


Save Everything You Are

by KamenRiderW



Category: Kamen Rider Gaim, Kamen Rider W (Double)
Genre: Broken Peco, Darkness, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-05-17 21:37:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 23,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5886184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KamenRiderW/pseuds/KamenRiderW
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zack decision to leave for America leaves bad consequences yet again. This time it isn't Inves or Neo Baron. This time its a Gaia Memory in the hands of Peco, who was to naïve to understand it until the worst happens. Now, Peco has created a monster that could be unstoppable. And Zack returns to find what was left of the Peco he knew and what the Gaia Memory gave birth to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. This is where I leave you

“Z-Zack, what do you mean you’re leaving?” Peco asked, grabbing the taller man’s shoulder.

                “Azami’s coming with me to America for a little while, so I can try dancing again,” Zack answered as he brushed Peco’s tiny hand off.

                “Y-you can’t. What if Neo Baron, or Inves, or something worse happens?” Peco replied, searching Zack’s eyes for something. Anything, to guarantee Zack’s return.

                “I know you can do this on your own now, you don’t need me anymore. Peco, you’re going to do fine without me,” Zack answered as he rolled his suitcase out of the Baron headquarters. He no longer would wear the reds and blacks that Baron wore. Peco, though, still did.

                “Zack,” he heard Peco say, almost a whimper.

                It hurt too much to really leave Peco completely alone, even without his sister. Yet, he couldn’t stay in Zawame city forever. Not after the hell he’d been through. He tried to tell himself that this would help Peco to, so Peco wouldn’t keep depending on Zack’s strength. When he did look back, because it was _Peco_ that he was leaving behind again, he sighed. Sweet, little Peco who tried so hard to understand everything. Whose passion for dancing led him to rebel against Kaito, of all people. But Peco was no longer standing there, just a snapped slingshot that he had watched Peco make. Keep walking, he told himself, the damage is already done.

 

                Peco ran, that’s what he was good at. Just like before, Peco’d just outrun it. Never stopping, never staying to fight. Leave that to the bigger guys, they’d do better at it. He hadn’t realized he was crying, but he actually was. The tears slid down his cheeks like a flood.

                Why did everyone leave him? Why did he deserve this? What had he even done wrong? Of course, Peco knew Zack would never love him like his sister. Why was it him who fell in love with the black-haired man? All Peco’s life, everyone was abandoning him for something better. His real parents, his adopted parents, his other siblings, his old friends, Kaito, and now Zack… and Azami. He hated how much he had depended on the armored rider. It was stupid, why Peco had to be so weak. Zack had always been his strength, his rock in the world. Plus, when Zack touched him or hugged him, Peco felt important for once. Like he mattered… which he put on a brave front to hide tae negative fact of that. Peco didn’t fear things as much as he normally did with Zack. Zack made him stable, and now, Zack was gone and was falling to the darker side of himself again. No longer happy carefree Peco. Bring on… the past him who hadn’t been a good person.

                Maybe Zack would come back to him? But Peco wasn’t as stupid as everyone thought. He knew Azami liked Zack and Zack liked Azami. Unless Azami wanted to come back, Zack wouldn’t. Everything he loved was right there. Which meant that Peco had to learn to live and fight on his own, without the promise of Zack protecting him. He was a fool to even think that Zack liked him back. At least Zack got out, Peco would just have to improvise. He had to become stronger, like Kaito.

                Peco found himself in a dark corner, his knees pulled to his chest. His face was buried in his red Baron jacket. He didn’t know where he was, not that he cared. But he could see the stars, a distant dream, above him in the darkened sky. Power, he needed more of it. More than what his beloved slingshot could give him. So no one could hurt him again. So he wouldn’t make the mistake and fall for someone, when they would no one could love him back. Being tiny and weak really limited your options. Anyway, they were all going to leave him in the end.

                Suddenly, Peco’s head shot up. A woman was walking down an alleyway towards him. Her face was completely covered by a black shroud, blending her into the night. He barely saw her until she walked under a street lamp. She wore a white dress shirt covered by a black suit jacket. And it was like she was a business woman, if the tight black skirt had anything to say about it. In her hand was a briefcase with Museum imprinted on it.

                “I have a gift for you,” She said coldly as she brought the case up and opened it. She grabbed two things from it, a flashdrive looking thing and a white gun.

                She yanked Peco easily to his feet, and Peco was to intrigued to fight back. Then she pushed his shirt away from his hip, completely barring it. Embarrassing. She inserted the drive thing and put the gun to Peco’s skin before pulling the trigger. Suddenly, Peco felt like a million needles were cutting through his skin and hitting every vein in his body. The mark it left was amazing, a square with a bunch of branches and circles. The lady pulled the flashdrive from the gun and handed it to him. Peco studied it, and the letter on it. ‘D’.

                “It’s a new Gaia Memory, it should be very powerful,” the woman said. “Put it into the bio connector.”

                Power, it would give him power to make a difference for once. He pressed the little button on the side by instinct and it called out ‘ **Darkness!** ’ Without thinking any further, Peco put it into the Bio connector. It was as if fire erupted in his veins and the memory absorbed into the bio connector. Peco screamed out in agony as he fell to his knees, clutching his hip. It hurt so bad he couldn’t think straight. He squirmed trying to oust race it, but could not. His mind became clouded with anger and horror. His head felt like it was splitting in half, creating a new him. He cried out, how long would this drag on? Could he die? Was he dying now? He didn’t care, as long as the pain stopped.

                “Zack,” Peco cried as his skin disappeared under a stone hard, pitch black skin. His eyes turned black. Anger filled him completely, and it wasn’t like he was himself anymore. Just a monster.

                “Interesting,” the woman said. “It splits… oh, this will be a special memory. I want to see what you’ll do with it.”

                Peco extended his arms, twice as long as they normally were. He roared like a beast. Thunder rumbled overhead as lighting arched in the sky. The heavens let loose a torrent of icy cold rain, as if it were mourning a lost loved one.

 

                Philip looked up from his book as a foreign feeling overtook him, stealing is mouth away from him. “A noble heart has fallen.”


	2. Chapter 2: Coming Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I hope you love this chapter as much as I did writing it! Um... if you want to read it on the go, find it on Wattpad under the same name and same author. My name is KamenRiderW universally! Lol. Thanks guys for reading this, it means a lot though. So anyway, if you loved it give me some kudos and comments so I know. If you didn't like it, comment below to tell me what I could do better next time... just not to harsh guys, ok? Anyway bye bye! ^m^

Zack limped away from the tryouts, feeling dim. It’d been many months since he left Zawame and Peco, and he hadn’t got a single good professional dancing job. His leg could no longer handle the harsh dancing that he put it through. Maybe leaving Japan hadn’t been the best idea. And he missed Peco more that he thought. He needed Peco more than the thought. SO, sue him if he enjoyed the nights when Peco came to him like a scared, lost child. And Peco was really clingy, and loved to be held. And he liked how Peco was so small compared to himself and how he could curl up into Zack’s chest. Peco was perfect for him. Right, off track again.

                He loved Azami, he really did. She wasn’t like Peco. She was reserved, didn’t speak out with excess emotions. She didn’t carry a familiar burden on her shoulders. She was sweet and beautiful, but to Zack, it wasn’t the same. Being around Peco made Zack’s heart beat out of control. His hands would get sweaty and he’d find himself invading Peco’s personal space more than normal. Not to mention, Peco smelled really good to Zack, weirdly enough. Especially during the Inves/Helheim thing. Zack had stayed awake many nights worrying about the boy. And when Peco slept over at the Baron headquarters, like most did, he would always check up on.

                Zack wondered how well Peco was doing without him. Probably a lot better, granted. He laughed at the though. Zack wasn’t doing half as bad either, but he yearned for him again. Maybe Zawame was the place for him. Or Tokyo maybe. He loved to dance, yeah, but he loved his city more. He guessed, things did change. He wasn’t the arrogant little son of a bitch that he was when Team Baron was the best dance team out there, and in the Invest games where Peco would help them cheat. Maybe Azami wanted to go back? He shook his head as he hailed a taxi.

                “Where to?” The driver asked in English.

                Zack mumbled off the address of their shared apartment, and then he was heading home. It wasn’t long before he reached the apartment complex and he thanked the guy, gave him the correct American bills, and got out. By then, his leg was feeling better so he bounded up the stairs to the fifth floor. Their apartment was the first one on the floor 189. He pulled out his key and unlocked the door, softly shutting the door behind him. He leaned his head against the wall for a second before he walked towards their sitting room. Already, there were two suitcases packed full on the sofa and two more partially full on the dining table. Azami was nowhere to be seen.

                “Uh, Azami? What’s going on?” Zack called through the small apartment.

                She came out of their bedroom with an armload of clothes. “I’m going back to Zawame.”

                “W-why?”

                “It’s Peco again. I called one of his friends, Jounouchi Hideyasu, and asked him about my little brother… and he said he was perfectly fine,” Azami replied quickly.

                “Yeah, that’s good Peco is ok,” Zack replied.

                “Isn’t it suspicious that Peco hasn’t called, texted or sent a letter once. And I’m sure even if he was heartbroken over you he would have said something. Gotten angry at me. Something is wrong with my little brother and I refuse to sit here and not know,” Azami answered. “And Peco is the kind of guy to have his friends to protect you.”

                Zack turned red in the face. “W-what do you mean?”

                “Aw, that’s so sweet!” Azami grinned. “You didn’t know that Peco liked you? Not once? Hmm… probably not. You both are dense, and in denial. Peco was always so adamant on protecting you to, it wasn’t just you keeping him safe. The first time you came to America, I was the one who had to call you because he refused to. Now not even I’m there… and I’m afraid he’s done something.”

                “Done something, like revived Neo Baron?” Zack asked.

                She shook her head. “I have the feeling that its something worse. My brother is not ok right now, I can feel it. He’s hurting.”

                That decided it for Zack. “We’re leaving right now and getting the earliest flight out of here.”

 

                They left America on a Boeing 676, heading for Japan. Heading for Peco. The airplane itself wasn’t very crowded and Zack was glad that he got a window seat. Peco and him had shared a dream of flying above the clouds and into space. He smiled as he remembered that pleasant conversation in which Peco had gotten hurt and Zack had actually got to hold him in his lap and talk with him.

                “You know, I never told you that Peco was adopted, did I?” Azami asked after awhile as she set aside her book, The Long Goodbye.

                Zack shook his head as he to set down his tablet and turned to look at her.

                Azami reclined back in her chair and smiled up at the roof of the plane. “Yeah, I ran into him when I was 10 and he was 8. I found him sitting on a curb counting out 11,849 Yen that he had stolen off some lady. Found out that his parents had grown tired of him and had just thrown him into an orphanage and he wanted his revenge. It made me sad when I found out his story, for such a young boy, he had had a pretty tough life starting out. I convinced my parents to adopt him, and they did.”

                “Oh, I… he never told me that,” Zack replied, he was a little bummed out that Peco hadn’t trusted him enough with that story.

                “He doesn’t tell anyone, Zack. Even I, one of the closest people to him for a long while until you came along, don’t know everything. When I found him he wore black leather, chains, and had piercings in his ears, eyebrows, lip, etc. Those all grew back in and stuff. But he’d gotten in with the wrong people you know, and they didn’t teach him the right things,” Azami said after awhile.

                Zack tried to imagine a punk in place of normal Peco, and he almost laughed. Of course, it’d be really hot, but it wouldn’t be Peco. Wait, when did he start thinking of Peco as hot? Adorable, yes, but sexy? Zack really wanted to hide his face right now, save himself from the embarrassment.

                Azami sighed and picked her book back up before leaning away from Zack to read. Zack grabbed his tablet and scrolled through some more posts from Face book. He cooed at an adorable cat video and wanted to get a kitten.

                “Sometimes, I wish you’d love me,” Azami said quietly.

                “I do…uh, yeah that,” Zack answered worriedly.

                “I know that, to a point you do. Yet I don’t understand why it was me that you asked to go to America with and not my brother. You like me, but you’ll always love him. I don’t understand why you’ve waited so long to tell him really,” Azami said, and then she grinned at him. “Hey, when we get back to Zawame you should tell him. Although, I wanted some nieces and nephews from Peco… but this could work. You could adopt. Peco as a father though, hilarious!”

                “W-w-w-what?” Zack stuttered, dropping the tablet onto his stomach. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

                “It sounds like you’re drowning in the river Denial,” Azami smirked.

                “I-impossible! The Nile River isn’t even in this continent! And I’d know if I was drowning,” Zack countered, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting out of the airplane window.

                Azami laughed good heartedly. “You’re an idiot.”

 

                They changed planes three times before they arrived in Zawame’s airport. All familiar surroundings and familiar smells. They went through customs pretty quickly and boarded the first subway system they could find. Zack decided to drop his stuff of at the Baron headquarters and Azami dropped hers off at her apartment. It was when they were heading to Bondou’s when they saw it.

                That wall hadn’t been in rubble when they left, and it looked like someone had been thrown through it. Zack squatted down and studied the broken rubble and sighed. Maybe he’d been away for too long and he just forgot. This had been a cement wall, not even an armored rider could have been thrown through it. Not unless there was a lot of force behind it. No, it was just his imagination.

                The walk to the shop was pleasant, but Zack was nervous. They had found more rubble areas like the first one and the citizens of Zawame looked tense and nervous. The last thing he wanted was another Helheim incident. He was so done with that for now. He still wasn’t over the fact that Mai and Kouta were somewhere in space, far away. And Kaito… was dead. He shook it out of his head as he opened the door for Peco’s older sister and they walked in.

                Nothing had changed, just as he had expected. The owner was busy as always, laughing with guests and chatting with his worker. Deep down, Zack knew that he also felt Kouta’s loss. Everyone went quiet inside as soon as they noticed Zack. Zack quickly located a familiar person with long, shaggy black hair, Micchi, and strolled over to him before sitting across from him. The younger boy jumped in surprise and looked up at him. On his cheek bone was a healing gash that looked to have been nasty at one time, but was scabbing over. It was recent too.

                “Hey, Micchi,” Zack greeted.

                “H-hi Zack. Why are you guys back in Zawame?” Micchi asked as absently mindedly ate his parfait, an orange special.

                “We decided to come back, is all. What’s Baron up to?” Zack asked.

                “They dance with Gaim still, if that’s what you wanted to hear. They’re fine,” Micchi answered, straight to the point.

                “That’s good. Um, oh this is Azami, Peco’s older sister,” Zack replied, introducing Micchi to his… girlfriend? Did that term even fit for them?

              Micchi’s eyes were cold towards her but he didn’t say anything. Zack knew that look, the haunted expression as if he was fighting a hopeless battle. That didn’t sit well with Zack. If something was really going on, where was Peco? Was he ok? Why hadn’t he contacted Zack about it? What if… what if… no, Peco was ok. No need making himself sick with worry, Peco could take care of himself. Right?

                “So, what’s Peco been up to? Nothing but trouble I presume,” Zack asked carefully, gauging Micchi’s expression. He was correct when Micchi looked like he’d been slapped.

                “H-he’s fine,” Micchi answered, then his phone started ringing. “Excuse me.”

                He got up and left the room to answer it, and Zack got up to. He hid around the corner to listen into the conversation, hopefully it wouldn’t be anything to… suspicious.

                “Hidari- san, we have some problems,” Micchi said quietly, as if it was dangerous speaking any louder.

                It was happening all over again, Micchi was betraying everyone. No, he shouldn’t jump to conclusions so fast. He didn’t _know_ if Micchi was betraying anyone yet, and he couldn’t do that. It was fair to the younger Kureshima brother.

                “Zack and Azami returned,” Micchi continued on. “It’ll be harder now, with them constantly buzzing around.”

                Micchi was silent for a second. “Are you sure, Philip-san? I’ll come there and we can see if it works. I-I don’t like seeing him suffer like he is, and if you’ve figured out what’s going on…”

                Zack pondered over that, what exactly was going on? Who were Hidari and Philip? Micchi’s friends? Allies? Family? Who was suffering? What was going on? Most importantly, where was Peco?


	3. Chapter 3: We're Going to Save You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY HERE'S ANOTHER CHAPTER!!! ACTAULLY EDITED AND STUFF! :) Sometimes, I really hate Archive of Our Own's formatting stuff. And stuff.

                Shotaro silently watched Philip work in the Gaim headquarters. They’d come to Zawame after getting a call from one of the Beat Riders about a dopant, and they came. Now everything had changed for the two who made up W. Shotaro had brought in a couple whiteboards for him to work off of, to figure out what the hell was going on. Philip was close, he knew it judging from the notes scrawled across the board, slowly merging into French and Spanish.

                The whole thing had gotten personal when Shotaro had actually met the Gaia Memory user before he lost himself. And the kid was pretty cool, really energetic, and a little sad. He reminded Shotaro of himself, another person who would cry because of Futo City’s curse. And this time, if they didn’t separate the boy from the memory, the boy _would_ die. Even he knew that much, because what turned into the dopant wasn’t Peco. It was someone else, stealing his body from him and it angered Shotaro. He imagined someone doing that to Philip, and that just pissed him off even more. Whoever gave Peco the memory would get beaten up by him for sure. You don’t just go and give an innocent person a memory for an experiment, it wasn’t morally right. Now the short, little guy was suffering more than he should. Peco hadn’t done anything to deserve what was happening.

                Shotaro couldn’t help but think about Peco’s last words to him before his eyes changed and the monster took over him. “Kill me.” That’s what he had said, as if he didn’t care anymore about his life. And that made Shotaro even more sad, here they were trying to save the boy’s life and the boy couldn’t keep up anymore. Shotaro couldn’t imagine what was going on with the poor kid to make him wish for that so easily, maybe it had worn him through? Maybe he knew something that they themselves didn’t know and the only option to save himself was to die? So he prayed to whoever was listening that Philip would figure it out faster than any normal human. Philip was amazing like that. Philip was his precious partner. Nobody could match.

                Speaking of said runaway train of knowledge, a book slammed shut. Philip wrote down some last minutes notes in whatever space he could find and put the cap back on the marker. That reminded Shotaro of all the times Philip _hadn’t_ done that and they had thrown away a lot of markers because of it. Thankfully, Shotaro had taught his partner enough to be responsible.

                “Shotaro, it’s worse than what we thought,” Philip said as he put down his book and walked over to the coffee machine. Shotaro followed.

                “Worse?”

                Philip nodded as he poured himself a cup and Shotaro handed him the sugar out of instinct. “We need to get everyone here so I can explain. The memory, Darkness, is something I’ve never seen before. I remembered every memory I made, and this one, I didn’t even know existed. It’s almost impossible for it to exist.”

                That wasn’t good, Shotaro thought to himself. If it stumped even the smartest man on Earth, then what could they do? A memory that Philip hadn’t made, designed, or thought up? How was that even possible? It was insanely dangerous for W and Peco.

                “I’ll call Jounouchi, that old guy Oren, and Micchi,” Shotaro said and Philip nodded.

                He carried the coffee over to the table and sank down on a chair.

                “Philip, you ok?” Shotaro asked, studying his facial expressions. Or lack of them.

                “I’m without problem,” Philip replied quickly, no emotion in his voice.

                “It’s ok to be scared, you’d be no less hard-boiled, right? Talk to me, Aibou,” Shotaro answered after awhile.

                Philip looked up at Shotaro. In 2.5 seconds, Philip launched himself at Shotaro. The younger boy wrapped his arms around the fedora wearing man, causing Shotaro to stumble back slightly. Shotaro held Philip tight against him, like the boy liked, and buried his face into Shotaro’s chest.

                “I don’t know what’s going on,” Philip said quietly, clenching Shotaro’s purple dress-shirt in his hand.

                Shotaro ran his hands up and down Philip’s back in a soothing pattern. “Hey, we’re going to figure this out. Peco is going to survive; we are going to save him. Before he becomes a monster, using that memory.”

                Philip breathed in slowly, showing more emotion than he ever did around other people. “I made every memory, but this one… I don’t know what it is. The memory is meant to destroy someone’s humanity and create a hellish monster with no morals at all. If Museum has that much power, than… my father, my family is more out of control than I calculated. Those memories are evil.”

                Shotaro drug his hand up to Philip’s silky black hair and ran his hand through it. “It’s going to be ok.”       

                Philip nodded and let go of him before returning to work on his stuff. And that was as much human contact that Philip required. However, by habit, Shotaro fixed one of Philip’s hair clips. Shotaro shook his head and pulled out his phone. Within minutes he contacted their Zawame allies.

               

Another half an hour and the three ex-armored riders sat in the Gaim headquarters. That old, bald guy named Oren Pierre Alfonso, the schemer Jounouchi Hideyasu, and Mitsuzane Kureshima. It wasn’t the best team that Shotaro could ask for, but they did good. Sometimes, good was enough to do what needed to be done. And they all were friends with Peco and cared about him to do anything to keep him safe and that was good.

Philip stood beside Shotaro and started explaining. “I discovered the memory, and what it is.” Philip’s deep, soft brown eyes met Shotaro’s hardened ones quickly before they flicked away.

“The memory in its self is of an entirely different generation then the ones we have seen. The best guess is it’s a new, more powerful model… a T3. I barely found any information on its sibling memories. The memory that Peco now holds at this moment has an extreme addiction rate higher than a T1 and a T2 memory. Most likely, a dealer gave it to him or he purchased it unknowing what it would lead to,” Philip said, straying from the point.

“And…” Jounouchi commented and Shotaro glared at the bespectacled man.

“The memory is called Darkness. As soon as Peco inserted it into the Bio Connector, he lost control. The memory itself would have split his mind in half, creating a second persona. It would have amplified his wants, his needs, his pains by tenfold. Within his first few transformations, the second persona gained a conscious within him. But, he should have been strong enough to keep it at bay,” Philip replied as he turned around to study his notes once more.

“So the black eyed dopant that attacked people, is actually Peco?” Micchi asked quietly. “So, he’s turned against Kouta and is destroying everything Kouta has sacrificed to protect.”

Philip nodded. “Sort of. It’s not the Peco you know, but it is. Most likely Peco had the power to henshin by himself, and then that unleashed the other him. Who has caused the suffering that he has and when Peco is normal he doesn’t remember what happened. Most likely, he believes that there is another enemy out there that is hurting the city and he’s trying to catch him.”

“That’s… horrible,” Shotaro whispered and Philip nodded again.

“It is. But, every time Peco transforms into the Darkness dopant, the evil side of him becomes stronger. Until eventually…” Philip picked up a paper cup in his hands and smashed it. “Until eventually Peco becomes like this paper cup and loses control and the other Peco takes control of his body. Then the evil one will smash and destroy our Peco’s will. And Peco will not be able to survive that, there is simply no way. It’s very likely that this event has already happened and Peco can’t reach out to us anymore.”

“That must be why the boy won’t talk to us anymore,” Oren said.

“That or he does have slight control still, until… until… he’s trying to limit the damage to the people he cares about. So no one gets hurt while he battles himself in the hopes of winning,” Shotaro explained, being able to briefly read Philip’s thoughts.

“Can he win? What will happen to him?”

“No, it’s a stupid battle. He won’t. That memory is all about eating energy away from the user and creating a new human. When the evil Peco is ready, he’ll break out of Peco’s body like a cocoon. I can’t say what condition Peco himself will be in after that, but if he does survive the hatching period… the two Peco’s will fight to the death. Only one will win, the strongest, and Peco will be weakened beyond the point of winning and the good Peco that we know will die,” Philip finished. “But that’s if he even survives the hatching period. Peco is too small to make it, and he’ll bleed to death right there.”

“My god,” Jounouchi said, pushing his glasses farther up his nose. “I-I can’t let someone else die. Not after… H-Hase.”

“Then how do we save him? If the evil Peco has control over the body as we speak, it’s already too late,” Micchi asked.

Philip looked grim. “I-I don’t know how. The Gaia library won’t… it won’t give me any hints, or clues or anything.”

Shotaro looked at his Aibou. “I don’t know if we should let the evil break out of little Peco or if we should do anything at all. I do know, though, that I won’t let Peco cry. He is a person, and I can’t turn my back on him. Not after the hell you’ve all been through. If we have to perform a memory break, no matter what, then we will. An injured Peco is better than a dead Peco.”

Micchi stood up and worried his hands. “How did this even happen? You’d think that it’d have been me who got mixed up in this, but instead it was Peco. Peco is one of the nicest guys you’ll meet once you understand him. He has a strong passion for dancing and will do anything to protect it.”

Shotaro shrugged. “He’s one of Museum’s lab rats on the newest line of Gaia Memories. Peco’s intentions were probably good.”

“Boy, if what you say is true then why are we sitting around in here. Peco is still a child to me and I have to help protect the children, as an adult. You understand that, right? With your partner?” Oren Pierre Alfonso replied.

Shotaro grit his teeth. “Philip isn’t a child. He’s an adult as much as I am.”

Philip put his hand on Shotaro’s chest. “He is right, Shotaro. We shouldn’t be sitting in here talking about what we might be able to do and instead being out there looking for Peco. The faster we reach him and separate the memory from him the further his survival chances go up.”

“Then let’s go,” Jounouchi said and Shotaro nodded.

Micchi put a briefcase on the table and opened it. “These are the improved ear pieces from ex-Yggdrasil’s storage. I stole them from Takatora-niisan It even has picture on it so Philip can see from base camp.”

Everyone took one and put them in their ears. They all stood from the table in unison.

“Let’s go find Peco,” Shotaro said and they filed out of Gaim’s headquarters.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope the grammar in this one isn't bad. I'm to busy watching Kamen Rider Drive to actually proof check this. :) I finished Drive today. :( Why does it hurt??? SPOILERS. Why Chase out of everyone. Darn it Gou, you could have told Chase how much his friendship meant to you, but you were such an idiot. Darn it! Anyway, here's the next chapter! :) So comment and give me some Kudos if you loved it. I love me some kudos!

Peco scraped the last of his parfait out of the cup before sighing. Then he winced as his arm ached. He woke up this morning passed out behind some dumpster with his clothes torn. His newest style? For some reason he was dressing like the punk he used to be, chains, black leather, slicked back hair, piercings, the works. He still didn’t understand way. Anyway, also this morning he woke up to have a lot of bruises and cuts, which he didn’t know how he got. But for some reason, he had gotten them.

Not to mention he was beyond stressed. His efforts to stop the evil monster rampaging through town were fruitless. Either he was too late, or the monster attacked after he left. All he wanted to do was protect the city like Zack had. Zack. Peco’s chest still hurt when he thought of him and his stupid, perfect face. His sister and him were probably kissing each other’s faces off and being all disgustingly lovely dovey in America. Fine, let them stay there in America. Peco didn’t need them anymore, he was strong to. Peco got up and paid for his parfait to Bandou. Then he left Drupers quickly, not caring to stay. It was better that he didn’t talk to Bandou, for some reason the man always looked at him worriedly now. Peco was perfectly fine!

Stupid Zack, why’d he have to leave Peco? Peco didn’t care, he didn’t want to see him again in Zawame. His footsteps carried him to his new apartment that he rented out. Azami had given him a lot of money when she left, and he was able to rent it and everything. It was really small and stuff, but Peco was happy. He was all alone where no one could hurt him and the punk look really made everyone stay away. For the time being, he was happy. He didn’t want any more of those dreams where the Bio Connector on his hip burned and he was looking at himself with black eyes. There were ones where the person who looked like him was killing Zack, snapping his neck, and then sometimes it was actually Peco with his hands around Zack’s throat. It scared him to death to think of himself… as evil. He couldn’t be evil, right?

Suddenly pain flared in his side as if something was awakening inside him. Peco clutched at his head and screamed as he fell to the floor in agony. Suddenly another person was sitting beside him. The person was an exact replica of him, but with completely black eyes, and its body was like mist. Unable to take on a truly corporeal form, yet.

“Ah, Peco buddy. I’m hurt you keep denying my existence! After all, I’m the only one who’s ever been there for you!” The dark Peco said with a devilish smirk. “I’m the one who protects you.”

“Protect me? I freaking wake up in alleyways with the crap beaten out of me! How is that protecting?” Peco answered himself.

“Ah, shot through the heart now. Together, we make a difference! We give hope to those who have lost their ways, like us.”

Peco snorted. “There is no difference. There are no hopes or dreams or love. Its just a straight line into oblivion. If you’re so focused on us, then we are what’s left after everything is said and done. In the scheme of things, _we_ have no purpose, no matter.”

“You’re right, but we’re still saving people. Aren’t we? Even if _Zack_ ran off with your sister to get married and shit, we can still help,” dark Peco replied.

“I told you to never mention that name around me,” Peco snarled at the misty form of himself.

“It disgusts me to. I’d like to snap his neck, for hurting you of course,” the other Peco said bitterly as it swirled towards Peco’s sofa and sat on it. He even crossed his legs like he was some proper man and not a half figure.

Peco froze at that, his dream coming back to him. There was no way that he’d let himself do that… because it was Zack. The person he thought would always be beside him. That same person that Peco had assumed loved him, judging by all the touching, invading, and holding Zack had done. Apparently not. He didn’t blame Zack for leaving, it was Peco’s fault after all. Peco was clingy, little Peco was foolish. It would never be Zack’s fault, honestly, Peco was male and his sister was female. Nature desired the male and female design over the male and male. At least he had this Peco with him, as a friend. Although, he didn’t trust himself one bit, because that was totally normal right? For your mind to split in half and give birth to another you for a short amount of time. His apartment wasn’t as lonely as it would normally be without the other Peco. He didn’t have to voice his thoughts, his feelings at least because the other Peco already knew. The other Peco always comforted him and himself, it was a strange friendship. They were united under the same goal, at least he hoped they were. Protect Zawame like Zack, Kouta, and Kaito had done. Bravery, not cowardice. Peco was a whole new man.

“I-I won’t let you hurt Zack. And the others. Even if he’s hurt us like he has, you will never be able to reach him.” Peco countered his misty twin.

“Ah, you’re no fun. BUT, you’re the boss, so I can’t do anything ‘bout it,” dark Peco sighed.

Peco nodded as he made his way over to his radio. It was an easy flick of the switch, and techno music filled the air. If Peco wasn’t hurt as bad as he was, he’d dance with it. Just for the sake of it, the memories he could never get back. Back when things made sense once again. Back when he had had Zack and Kaito alongside him.

To Peco, everything was about Zack. He still remembered when he discovered that he wasn’t technically speaking, straight. When was it again? Oh, he was pretty sure he was about 13 years old when he had figured it out and gotten him his first boyfriend. Iwao had been as tough as they come. He was easily anger, and he would take out his anger on Peco and beat him senseless. Peco, craving human touch and love, didn’t care, and he stayed with him. He also was ashamed of Peco and wouldn’t even talk to him during school, but Peco was sure that he loved him. The relationships after that? There were three. Peco had a type, obviously, especially tall, dark, punks. In a sadistic way, Peco was attracted to violence, hate, and pain. Like Kaito, when Peco had had a crush on his leader. Peco had been hurt a lot because of that, mentally and physically. When he met Zack, it was the same deal. Tough, large, and a fighter. When he got to know the man, though, he found that Zack was sweet all the way through. No hidden personalities that would like to take their anger out on Peco and that’s when Peco fell for him. He cared more for Peco than any other guy Peco had been with, and that was just friendship. Zack was a gentle giant. To bad Zack fell in love with his sister over him.

Peco hated himself for the fact that he wasn’t really bitter for Azami and Zack. Peco had had a home because of Azami, not an orphanage. He had a family, because of her. And she always protected him. She was the best sister that Peco could ever hope for, and that made a difference. Out of everything, Peco wanted her to be happy. And if she was happy being with Zack, then so be it. Let them go. Peco could just go back to the life he got caught up in. Poisonous relationship after poisonous relationship until he found someone else like Zack.

“Spacing off again?” The dark Peco asked quietly.

“Hmm?” Peco sighed as he plopped down beside himself.

The other Peco sighed as he outstretched his arm and flexed his fingers. “How inconvenient. I was saying, I can’t wait to take over your body and completely split away from you. Then I’ll get to kill you, and get away from those sad thoughts you think.”

“What?” Peco exclaimed, on his feet.

The other Peco smirked at him. “I didn’t tell you? I’ve been filling your pretty little head with lies and dreams as I’ve grown stronger. As each day passes, I become more solid and you become unstable.”

“Then…” Peco said, but couldn’t think. More pain filled his head and his own body started to fade away.

“Oh, I see now. So that’s what is going on. It’s already time for you to lose control of your body. Then… I’ll claim what’s mine, no harsh feelings,” The dark Peco said.

Then the other Peco had disappeared from the couch and Peco was falling at millions of miles an hour into a completely black abyss. His body was weighed down by an invisible force. Coldness crept into his bones and Peco held his arms to his chest.

 _Now you’ll live forever inside of here, like I have._ He heard himself say, but it wasn’t him. Suddenly, dark Peco appeared before him, shrouded by darkness.

“Let me out of here, you can’t do this!” Peco complained.

_Hmm, maybe not. I’m probably breaking some kind of rule or crap, but I honestly don’t care. You’re mine now and there’s nothing you can do to stop what’s to happen._

“Give me back my body!”

_It would be pointless, Peco, my friend. Even if I left you, and got rid of the memory that makes me you’d still hunger for it. The hunger would destroy you and everything you are._

“Its just a stupid memory, I can get rid of it without needing…”

_You realize that you’re the one who uses the memory first and I take control afterwards, right?_

“What? Impossible. Q-quiet lying, I hate liars.”

 _Oh, innocent little Peco, you could never do wrong in your life._ Dark Peco chided. _How could you want a memory that hurts people? Or maybe its for revenge against Zack for leaving you like every other person who has left you. Why don’t you let go and let me get your revenge for you?_

“I. Want. My. Body.”

_Soon, you can have this worthless thing. Soon, I won’t have to be so short and broken. My body will be renewed and then I get to kill you! Isn’t that fun?_

“Kill me? I may be broken, but I’m not out. As long as Zack’s alive somewhere, I’ll protect the world for him until he gets back,” Peco replied.

 _Its already too late, my friend. It was a pleasure sharing your head for awhile, if its any consolation. Now, let’s go see Zack._ Dark Peco said and than he was gone.

“Zack? Oh… LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Peco screamed. “PECO!”

The only thing Peco could do, though, was scream until his voice went out. No happy dreams or fantasies would ever reach his mind again because of the damned memory he took from that lady. Peco hated himself, more than ever.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the bad spelling coming up, but I need to catch this story up to its twin on Wattpad... so yeah. Lol. Please enjoy! :)

“Shotaro, something’s going on two streets away from you,” Philip said into the little microphone of the ear piece.

                “Is it…?” Shotaro asked, his voice slightly muffled from his bike helmet.

                “Yeah, I think so,” Philip replied.

                “We’re on our way, to,” Jounouchi said as well, slightly out of breath as if he were running.

               

                Shotaro arrived shortly after to find the black dopant flipping cars over and hurting people. He jumped off his bike and threw his helmet to run at Peco. He pulled out the double driver and put it to waist. He also pulled out his Joker Gaia Memory. Together, Philip and Shotaro said Henshin, and W appeared around Shotaro’s body. They heard two other Henshins and the green and brown armored rider came running into. Together, all three of them assaulted Peco in Dopant form. Shotaro landed a heavy punch to his chest, but as usual, it only bounced off. A kick was no bit better. Peco shot Shotaro in the chest with one of the energy beams he possessed, and W rolled out of the fight. Immediately, a gun unleashed a torrent of bullets at Peco’s rock hard body and Micchi came running in already transformed. The dopant snarled and stepped back a few feet before swinging its arm. It caught Jounouchi by the shoulder flinging the boy backwards into a building. His transformation broke and he didn’t get back up for awhile.

                “Damn it,” Shotaro said to Philip.

 _We’ve already proven that metal isn’t an effective attack against him. Trigger is worthless against his rock hard body, and Luna has gotten you hurt. I’m not letting you use it again._ Philip said in Shotaro’s mind.

                “What about if we switch to Heat?” Shotaro asked as he concentrated on the battle, barely dodging a punch to their gut. “Go with Heat Joker.”

               His right hand brought out the memory and they changed to black and red. Then Shotaro let Philip take control. Philip aimed a few, burning hot punches to the dopants stomach. The smell of burning flesh filled his nose, but the skin immediately regenerated. Philip kept pounding Shotaro’s right arm into the same area. One of their other tactics to slow down the regeneration.

                “You can’t beat me!” Peco screamed as he threw the remaining three riders off his back.

                W got to their feet in just enough time to be punched hard enough to fly backwards and go through another brick wall. Peco laid into the other two riders and in no time they lay helpless on the ground without their armor. Shotaro had to get their attention.

                “Go Luna Joker,” Shotaro demanded.

                _Its not effective enough! You’ll get hurt!_

                “Philip, we’re just going to drag him over here. Then counter with Xtreme,” Shotaro answered.

                W did another form change and Philip extended his arm out to grab the Dopant and with great difficulty, drag it over towards them. As soon as Peco was clear of their comrades, Philip dropped him and switched their memories to Cyclone Joker. Then the Xtreme memory appeared overhead and Shotaro grabbed it before putting it on the belt. The middle of W opened up and Shotaro felt Philip’s mind completely one with his, the most thrilling feeling he’d ever experienced. Their left hand extended and both said ‘Prism Bicker’, summoning their sword and shield from the middle of their chest. Philip brandished the sword while Shotaro defended themselves with the shield. They slashed at Peco with the sword, who only roared in outrage.

                Shotaro and Philip held their own for a good chunk of time, well, until Shotaro was caught off guard on the left side. They were hit with Peco’s strongest hit, and flung backwards to join their comrades on the ground. Their Henshin broke, and Shotaro threw himself over Philip to protect him as another blast was sent their way. It narrowly missed them.

                “You, puny humans aren’t worthy of battling me. I will snap your spines,” Peco snarled as he slowly walked over to him.

                Suddenly, someone collided with him, causing Peco to fall backwards in surprise. He turned to see a familiar face. The same dark eyes, and shaggy black hair as the man he loved.

"Zack."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter is up! Slowly catching up to its sibling story on Wattpad. SLOWLY! :) Also, sorry for the format and crap. It's so freaking hard to get it to format correctly and everything! Ugh. Lol.

“I’m not letting you hurt these people, you monster,” Zack said harshly as the monster froze.

                “You hurt him. YOU HURT HIM!” The monster screamed and slammed its arm into Zack’s gut, flinging the man back. “You are the only one I will never forgive. Where were you when he needed you? I have had to piece together a broken man, because of you! How could you do that too him? He never deserved it!”

                “Who are you talking about?” Zack questioned as he shakily got to his feet. He’d be damned if he let something so trivial bring him down. He had been Baron’s main brawler when Kaito wasn’t around, this was nothing.

                Suddenly, there were hands pulling him back. Zack turned around to see Jounouchi, Oren, and a fedora wearing man holding onto him. He tried shaking them off, but their combined strengths were too much. Together, the three rolled Zack back and Jounouchi and another man, this time with multicolored hair trinkets holding his long black hair, held him down.

                “Let me go! You guys need help, and I want to know what he means!” Zack cried, fighting against the two.

“Don’t let Zack get any closer,” the fedora wearing man ordered.

“But Shotaro,” the other man holding Zack down said.

“Philip, listen to me. Remember what we came here to do? All the months we’ve spent fighting would go down the drain if this dopant got his hands on that man,” Shotaro, Zack assumed, said. “Aibou, keep him away at all costs, please.”

Philip nodded and held tighter, but his eyes weren’t on Zack but on Shotaro. Jounouchi was looking at the dopant with a saddened expression. Something Zack hadn’t seen for awhile.

“Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?” Zack shouted as the three separating Zack from the monster were engaged in combat without their armor.

The two weaklings held fast though, not letting go. Philip eventually sighed as his attention turned from Shotaro to Zack. “It was really inconvenient for you to return right now.”

The three were blasted backwards again. Mitsuzane rolled out of the way, but Zack could tell the young boy wasn’t going to be on his feet for awhile. Oren Pierre Alfonso managed to get out of there in good condition. Shotaro though, his face was a bloody mess.

“Shotaro!” Philip cried and the pressure on Zack was released as the boy ran to his friend’s side, putting himself in between the monster and Shotaro.

Zack pushed his way up, knocking over Jounouchi. He got to his feet and faced the monster, which stopped to look at him. Then it raised its clawed hands and slashed its way across Zack’s face ripping up the skin. Zack cried out as he clutched his cheek. The monster was about to stab him through when it paused.

“What are you doing?” It snarled in panic, its deep voice wavering. “Stop it!”

The monster’s arm dropped and it clutched its head, stumbling backwards. It went into freak out mode and screamed bloody murder.

“Shotaro-san!” Micchi shouted from where he lay on the ground. “Zack’s always been his weakness! He would never hurt him! He’s fighting against himself!”

All five of the guys behind him cheered as if it were a major breakthrough, which Zack didn’t understand. The monster’s whole body shook as it looked straight at Zack. It was if he knew who that was, but he couldn’t place it? A friend? He didn’t know, but those eyes were horrifyingly familiar. Then the monster turned and ran away, limping slightly on his left leg. Zack had every urge to follow it and demand answers, but he couldn’t. Not now. Not when he had to make sure his friends were ok.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost there!!!

Peco stumbled away and undid his transformation when he was sure he was far away from everyone. Peco put his back to the wall and slowly slid down it. His hands wound up in his hair, pulling slightly as a strangled whimper escaped his mouth. Hot tears rolled down his face, dripping onto his leather clothes. He felt so unstable, as if he was truly working. He had hurt Zack! The seed of darkness had been born inside him, and now it was threatening to kill the good part of his mind.

“I will destroy you,” Peco whispered to himself. “Some how.”

The air beside him rippled, and Peco recognized the figure looking back at him. It was his own face.

“You can’t. We’re friends, aren’t we?” the other asked, squatting down to look him in the eye.

“Friends, they don’t hurt each other. Even Kaito knew that. We are not friends,” Peco replied.

The other Peco sighed and flicked the solid Peco in the face. If he had been solid himself, it would have actually hurt Peco.

“You’re really annoying, you know that,” The other replied. “Maybe that’s why everyone abandons you.”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Peco whimpered, he was lying! He had to be!

“Oh, struck a nerve, didn’t I? You’re so broken that the very _thought_ of someone leaving you terrifies you.”

“You’re lying,” Peco mumbled, not looking into his own hellish eyes.

“You’re just a scared, pathetic, little child. You never had the strength to stop those who left you. And they all do, even when you confessed your love to them. All because you attached yourself to them until they grew annoyed. Like Zack.”

Peco shook his head. “Y-you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The darker Peco opened his arms like a loving embrace “But don’t worry. I promised, didn’t I? I’ll always be here for you. Always. Close your eyes now, I’ll look after you.”

Peco’s body automatically launched itself into the other’s arms and buried his head into the other’s solid shoulder. Dark Peco soothingly rubbed circles in the other’s back until Peco’s eyes closed. Suddenly, the other disappeared and the original Peco fell face forward to the floor. Then Peco’s eyes opened, completely black. He pushed himself to his feet and fixed his hair. Then he flexed his muscles and popped his neck. With the original Peco safely buried and locked inside his own brain, the other had complete control again. Peco smirked. This time for sure he’d avenge Peco’s heart before he killed the weaker one.

“Ugh, he’s such a nuisance. I was unlucky to get someone so clingy and worthless. I would do anything for you, Peco. I wish you'd understand that. I wish you'd understand that killing Zack would help you heal.”

 

“Would someone tell me what the hell is going on? That monster wasn’t an Inves, and it said that I hurt it!” Zack hissed.

Currently, everyone had returned to the Gaim headquarters. And everyone was neglecting to tell Zack anything, which pissed him off even more. Zack was currently glaring at the Futo detective, Hidari Shotaro. The man met his glare, surprisingly, which made Zack even more angry.

“Shotaro, we’re not helping anyone if we keep it a secret,” Micchi said eventually.

Shotaro looked at Philip for a few seconds and it was like a mutual understandment passed between them. “Fine. Sit down, you’re going to need to.”                 Zack sat down in the nearest chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

“The monster that beat you up? It was a dopant. Before you ask, a dopant is someone who changes their body using a Gaia Memory,” Shotaro explained as he looked at Philip. “Normally we’re able to defeat dopants except this one was on a whole new level then what we’ve ever dealt with.”

“Yeah, so why did this one say I knew him? Or something like that?” Zack replied.

“Because, you did know him. In fact, he used to be one of your greatest friends,” Shotaro sighed as he pulled the black fedora from his head. “Its… Peco. He’s had it for a few months.”

Zack felt like the air had been punched out of his chest. Peco, evil? That’s had to be impossible. Peco wouldn’t do that… he would never do that. But, Peco had said that he had hurt him. Oh god, this was his fault. Peco’s uncontrollable anger was his fault.

“H-how?” Zack stuttered, his stomach felt like throwing up.

“Peco isn’t evil, Zack. He’s lost himself. It started out with someone giving it to him and, well, his mind split in half creating a second him. That was the evil one that you fought. The other Peco…” Shotaro trailed off sadly.

“…is lost inside himself,” Philip finished, briefly glancing at Shotaro.

“But, there’s hope because something happened today that hasn’t happened since this hell has begun,” Micchi quickly added.

“Yeah like what?” Zack hissed angrily.

“Simple as Peco switched personalities while he was transformed. He stopped himself. It may not seem like much, but its, damn it, a victory for all of us,” Shotaro finished. “He’s still hanging on.”

“Hanging on? Is Peco…” Zack asked.

“We can save him, that’s all that matters. We need to find him soon, or there’ll be nothing left to find,” Philip said.

“Are you saying he’s gonna split soon?” Jounouchi asked from where he lounged back in his chair.

“Yes, if it wasn’t for Zack appearing… Peco might have already done it. Peco fought against himself, when he wouldn’t normally, which delayed the other. He gained control, but I know for sure that he’ll lose it again.”

“Everyone, we need to understand that if the boy splits he’ll die,” Oren Pierre Alfonso stated.

Micchi made a fist and punched the table. “Its not fair! How many more of our friends have to die?”

“Die? What do you guys mean?”

“Zack, uh, the memory that he has splits his mind in half creating two personalities. Except its not like an… alter ego, but more like a separate persona. Now, he’s had the guy inside him for a long time. But it comes with a cost, while Peco was transforming unknowingly, the other Peco has been feeding off of him. Like a baby in a mother’s womb, except, when Peco splits in half and the second is born, our Peco will die in the process.” Philip explained slowly, studying the other man’s reactions. “It is an exceedingly compelling memory, the most interesting I have ever studied in my life.”

“Philip…” Shotaro warned, glaring at his Aibou to stop.

“What? Shotaro, he has every right to know about the memory, isn’t that what you said?” Philip countered, standing up to the other man. “Anyway, I normally know about all the memories made, but this one is an exception. It wasn’t made by me, and so, therefore… I can’t be exactly sure on how far it will go. But if Zack was able to break through to Peco, then that is progress we haven’t made for a long time. Shotaro, you need to start thinking about the fact that maybe Zack needs to know everything so that he can save Peco.”

“Save Peco, how am I supposed to do that?” Zack replied as he stared mindlessly at the table. “Peco wouldn’t want to see me after everything that’s happened.”

“Its hard to face something like this, but Zack, Peco loves you. He won’t let himself hurt you, we saw that today. You’re in this whether or not you like it,” Micchi said, looking around at everyone. “This is all our faults. We all turned our backs on Peco accidently, and that was our sin. Now, we have to pay for them and save Peco from himself.”

“You know what the most haunting thing is?” Jounouchi asked. “It’s the fact that he’s had to live with himself for so many months. Do you think that perhaps, the evil him cares about Peco? See when the Dopant saw Zack, it screamed ‘You Hurt Him’.”

“As I’ve said before, I don’t know this memory and how it’ll act. I knew that the other Peco would gain conscience inside Peco himself, but what he did with it would be a mystery. And apparently, it seems that they’ve most likely created a sadistic, dark friendship. Which would drive Evil Peco to protect Peco,” Philip replied.

“So you’re suggesting we use one Peco against the other?” Shotaro asked. “Aibou, you’re brilliant!”

“It’ll be hard, they’re connected to each by body and mind. But maybe if Zack were to hurt regular Peco, than the evil Peco would come back and we could break them apart,” Philip explained.

“Let’s get planning, we’re running out of time as it is,” Shotaro replied.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, yes, we're almost there!! Three more left to go I think or maybe two... I don't know! XD

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Shotaro asked Zack over the intercom system, his voice was slightly winded as if we’re moving around on a bike.

“Yeah, I think I am. It’s not every day that you fight you best friend,” Zack replied. “And I want to save Peco. Because I couldn’t save Hase Ryuoiji, Kaito, or Mai and Kouta. But I can save Peco, and that means more to be than anything else.”

“You’re a good guy, Zack. Honestly, when I first met you I thought you’d be an asshole who only liked to fight. But I respect you, because I can tell you care about Peco more than you let on,” Shotaro replied after awhile.

Zack chuckled. “Everyone normally does. W-wait a minute! It’s not because I like Peco, but its because we’re friends. And friends don’t leave friends behind.”

“You’re truly amusing,” Philip said, surprising both riders.

“Oi, Philip,” Shotaro half-heartedly cursed his Aibou.

“You should speak for yourself, Shotaro. It seems somebody else is in love with their best friend to,” Zack teased.

“I-I am not. Shut your mouth, you… you walnut,” Shotaro spluttered.

“We’ve found him,” Micchy suddenly stated out of the blue.

“Where?”

“He’s heading toward you Zack, you’ll be meeting up soon enough,” Micchi replied. “Jounouchi, Oren, move to Zack’s location now. We’ll need you both for backup if things get bad.”

“Got it,” they both replied at once.

“We’ll be there in approximately 5 minutes, hang in there boy,” Oren said before they both disappeared offline.

Then Zack was sprinting as fast as his leg would let him. Nothing would stop him now, not when he was close to Peco. It wasn’t long before he met up with his best friend. Peco had been walking down the street adjacent to Zack’s. What Zack saw, though, scared him. It did not look like Peco, but yet, it was him in every sense of the word.

“I’ve found him. Approaching now,” Zack said before he went offline. After all, if things go personal, he wanted it to stay between the two.

His eyes scanned Peco’s small body from head to toe. He was dressed in black leather pants, a black t-shirt, and over that a black ripped up trench coat. Around his wrists were spiked bracelets and other types. Around his neck was a choke collar which looked a little too tight then what Zack was comfortable with. He had chains everywhere, to the point where he wasn’t silent when he walked. And on his black boots, he had actual silver spurs. There were a dozen piercings in his ears that weren’t there when Zack last saw Peco. And his beautiful brown eyes were covered by black sunglasses. Peco was in every word of it, intimidating.

“Peco!” Zack shouted causing the other to look up at him. Zack ignored the warning bell’s in his body and ran towards his friend. Something about Peco’s stiff posture? It had to be Peco, though, Zack was sure.

“Zack?” It sounded like Peco, that was enough. His instincts immediately kicked in whenever Peco was scared and coward away and that’s what Peco was doing now.

“Hey Peco, its going to be ok. We can help you,” Zack said to his best friend. Peco looked up at him and smiled. Except it was Peco’s mischievous smirk and Zack didn’t react fast enough.

Suddenly, he was lying on the ground with all the wind knocked out of him. Peco stood above him, starring down with a predator’s smirk and Zack had to admit, it scared him. Then Peco reached up and pulled his sunglasses off and then Zack knew. They made a mistake. Peco’s eyes weren’t brown anymore, they were completely black. No pupil, no iris, no white. Just endless darkness.

“Zack, it’s so nice to see you! Now I can finally kill you for him,” Peco sneered, then he kicked Zack in the side. “It’s funny, Peco didn’t want this. But you know, it’s what’s best for him. I’m always finding what’s best for him so we don’t get hurt again. And you, you piece of shit, will always hurt Peco. As long as you’re alive and breathing, Peco will do nothing but hurt. Because he loved you, and could never love me!”

“Love you? How could he ever love you?” Zack wheezed out. “You’re sick and twisted. And you’ve destroyed Peco!”                 “I’ve made him perfect!” Peco screamed grabbing Zack’s hair and yanking the other to his feet. “I gave him something to believe in. I made sure his last months were the best that I could make, so he wouldn’t ever hurt again!”

“It isn’t me that’s hurting him right now. Peco, if you can hear me in there… I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry!” Zack shouted.

The other slammed him back to the ground and punched him again. “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Do not ever fill lies into Peco’s ears again. I refuse to let him suffer anymore, don’t you understand?”

“You’re nuts!” Zack hissed between clenched teeth as he grabbed onto Peco’s leg. The other kicked him off and sat on top of him. His black eyes peered into Zack’s.

“If you could only die quietly, you wouldn’t awaken the beast. Don’t you understand now? If you live, Peco will die in pain. But if I kill you, then I can kill Peco knowing Peco won’t be in pain,” Peco sighed as he ran his hand down Zack’s face, tracing his features. “It was a shame, you were such a pretty man to. But I’m sure I can find others. Peco had no problem finding boyfriends, but the quality of them. Yikes! No wonder he fell in love with you, of all people. He trusted you to never hit him or take him against his will. But he wasn’t really good at trusting people anyway.”

Zack’s stomach twisted as those words sank in. What kind of things had Peco been through the he never told anyone about? How damaged was Peco, really? Suddenly, his Peco was an almost complete stranger. Of course Zack knew that they didn’t tell each other everything. But Peco had been raped or something of that sort, and Zack hadn’t _known._ That hurt worse than a betrayal.

“Peco, I know you’re hurting. But you can’t win like this,” Zack said, clutching Peco’s head in both of his large hands. “You’re human, and you’re important to me. Isn’t that enough? Stop this, let me through. I can save everything you are if you let me!”

“LIES!” Peco screamed, but Zack was sure he heard two versions of Peco’s voice speaking together.

The other’s body fell backwards slightly, as if there were two pilots inside. Completely, utterly out of sync. Peco’s eyes changed. One was still the pure black but the other’s darkness was slowly shrinking and reveling one beautiful brown eye. Peco had awoken within himself. Zack had done it, now it was his job to give his Peco back his own control. Then everything went wrong. In seconds, Peco screamed and the darkness filled his eyes once again and the evil Peco gained control once again. Instead of stopping there, Peco pulled out the Gaia Memory and ripped his black shirt upwards reveling silvery, pale, smooth skin underneath. Peco then jammed the memory into the Bio Connector on his hip and his form changed. Then Zack was faced with the monster of Peco’s pain, the Darkness Dopant.

“I’ll rip your head from your neck and paint your body in your own blood,” Peco screamed, although he didn’t make sense.

Then Peco raised his clawed hand into the air and positioned it over Zack’s neck. In that moment, Zack just knew that he was going to die. He would die, and his Peco would die to and there was nothing he could do. He tried to think back, what could he have changed if given the chance? Would he have told Peco he loved him before he left the first time? Would he have figured it out and got to be able to hold and love Peco and not die here, today? No, he wouldn’t. Zack realized that what he had done wasn’t for his own happiness, it was for Peco’s. He left so Peco could move on, so Peco wouldn’t cry anymore. Because Zack heard him at night, through the thin walls of Baron’s headquarters. Those were the nights he stayed awake, wishing Peco’d just stop or let him in so he could console him. But Peco never did. And that’s why Zack left, he thought it was he who was causing Peco’s pain. In the end, he really had caused Peco pain and he hated himself for it.

Zack looked up into Peco’s eyes, imagining his Peco’s brown eyes instead of the black. He thought of all the fun memories they had. The Inves games, practicing the Baron dance, the Group event when Peco had looked so free and perfect up on stage leading Baron. Where had everything gone so, terribly wrong?

“Peco,” Zack whispered as he watched his death come closer. “I love you.”

Then Zack closed his eyes and awaited his death. He wouldn’t fight back, not this time. Not when it was Peco in there. He vowed to never fight Peco, and so this was him keeping his promise. Except, that death never came. He opened his eyes to see Peco’s claws an inch above his face, but not moving. Then the monster screamed and stumbled backwards as a hand shot out towards its own hip and pulled the Gaia Memory from the skin. The form shimmered around it and shrank down to half its size. Standing in front of Zack was a familiar face, someone he had known better than himself. He looked beaten up and tired but it was Peco. His little Peco.

“Peco,” Zack whispered. His hands reached out to the boy, just like they used to when he demanded a hug or wanted to hold the smaller boy. “Come here, you’re going to be ok.”

Peco shook his head. “Stay away Zack. I-I don’t have control for long… and I need to kill him.”

Zack shakily got to his feet. “Peco, no. We’ll figure this out together, you don’t have to do this alone anymore.”

Peco’s eyes widened in horror as he started to choke. Zack tried to rush forward to help him, but suddenly, hands held him back. His friends had finally caught up. He watched as Peco fell to his knees clutching at his head as well. His mouth widened in a silent scream of agony.

“Stay back until… kill him at the first chance…you get,” Peco said slowly as he reached his hands up to his chest. “I-I know… how I can stop this. Promise me, Zack!”

“Peco! Don’t!” Zack screamed, but his friends wouldn’t let him get any closer.

“There’s nothing we can do for him, Zack. I’m sorry,” Shotaro said, his voice thick with emotion.

“H-he’ll die,” Zack replied, tears appearing in his eyes and sliding down his cheek. He had never before cried so openly, and it scared him.

In one motion, Peco ripped the clothes away, the jacket and shirt sliding off his shoulder. He kicked the leather boots off from his feet. His body reacted violently and he stumbled backwards clutching his stomach. Peco dropped the rest of the clothes from his body, completely bare to the world. Zack’s mouth dried, and despite the circumstances, he went red in the face.

“You bastard,” Peco hissed at himself. “If I die, you’re coming to hell with me.”

“Peco stop! Don’t let him win!” Micchy shouted.

“It’s too late already. Please… tell Azami I’m sorry for everything… and that she was the best sister I have ever had,” Peco replied. “Even if she loved Zack to.”

Peco’s chest grew like a bubble, the rest of his body following suit. Tears stained Peco’s cheeks as he pushed another life form from his brain, and out of his body. His skin split in half, and bones divided into the new life form. Zack watched in horror as flesh tore from flesh, overpowering Peco’s screams. Suddenly, a sack holding a body fell from Peco’s body. The tiny boy fell to the ground, blood streaming from his ears, mouth, nose, eyes, and every other available pore. Zack fought against the hands holding him and he broke free. In seconds, he was at Peco’s side gathering his frail little body in his arms. The thing in front of him that split from Peco’s body started moving. Hands and feet appeared from its side as another figure broke free from it. Its skin was bright red, like a newborn baby’s, and in some places the body was still trying to build itself. The figure would probably be as tall as Zack but had the same, cute face that Peco had. Except its eyes gleamed with hatred.

Peco reached up weakly and grabbed Zack’s hand. “K-kill him, before he get’s s-stronger.”

The other Peco screamed as he tried standing. But he slipped in a puddle of blood, Zack didn’t know who’s it was, and fell back to the pavement. Both Pecos were weak and in pain, and Zack’s heart hurt. Looking down into the bloodied face of the one person he swore to protect, he grew angry. All the stuff Zack had done to keep Peco safe during the Helheim invasion and the second he leaves Peco something like this happens. And now, Peco might not even make it and there was nothing Zack could do. He couldn’t go back in time and stop Peco from whatever he did to become this… thing.

“What have you done?” The other Peco screamed, its voice higher pitched then even Peco’s voice. “We weren’t ready to split!”

“You brilliant idiot,” Zack said to the boy in his arms.

Peco smiled up at Zack, blood staining his white teeth and bubbling in his throat. His mouth opened as if he was trying to say something, but nothing came out. Zack put his arm underneath Peco’s knees to support them and lifted Peco from the ground. He ignored the fear in his veins, but he understood what Peco had done. There was no way Peco would have survived separating from the other when the other was fully formed. But right now? Peco had a chance, and Zack would do everything in his power to keep his best friend by his side.

“I’ll keep you safe,” Zack whispered as he stumbled back away from the form on the ground.

“I’ll kill you, my friend. I’ll rip the skin from your body and then snap your neck! My revenge will come!” The other Peco screamed as it tried to stand. “We were supposed to be together, forever. As a team, but you ruined it! I would have never left you like they did!”                 Zack snarled at the other Peco. “You are the only one I’ll never forgive!”

Zack carefully made his way back to the group before he handed Peco to Oren. He yanked his jacket off and draped it over Peco to give him some decency. Then Zack bared is teeth and turned to the other Peco, wallowing on the ground in the blood.

An arm on his shoulder halted Zack, though. “Its not the right time to avenge Peco. Peco needs medical help,” Shotaro said and Zack nodded.

He took Peco back from the man who called himself Bravo and held him tight to his chest. The group retreated from the screaming monster on the ground.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning adorable Zack and Peco moment I think... if you guys like it. I really hope you do! Comment! Leave Kudos! Subscribe! Uh... Bookmark! Whatever!! ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

Peco awoke to find himself in Zack’s room at the Baron’s headquarters. How he had known? He’d been in there more than his own, when Zack wanted to hang out. Even more so when Zack left and Peco need some comfort. He noticed that his chest was bandaged up and he was sure his forehead was to. His entire body ached from his toes to his head. But for the first time, in a long time, his mind was clear. Sure, he still felt the other, but it wasn’t as immediate. Suddenly a hand slid further across his waist, brushing across bare skin. That felt nice. Then he realized someone much, much larger than him was pressed against his back and their arm draped across his waist. His heart sped up. Could it be… Zack? He couldn’t handle the thought of it being some other man, because the arm was clearing a man’s.

Very carefully, Peco rolled over onto his other side. Probably a mistake as he hissed in pain, but he forced himself to do it. However, the sight that awaited him was worth it. It was Zack. His hair was messy, his lips slightly parted, and his eyes shut tight. His breathing was even, soothing Peco. Peco was sort of glad that the bed was small, or else there’d be no other reason for Zack to be so close to him. If Zack was perfect from faraway, he was even more so close up. His fingertips ghosted over Zack’s beautiful, plump lips. Zack’s eyes flicked open, startling Peco almost to death. He would have laughed at that one. Zack’s hands caught Peco’s before he could retract them and held them in place.

“How are you feeling?” Zack asked in a rough, husky voice.

Peco gulped. “I’m fine.” Why did Zack get such a deep, nerve raking voice and Peco a high pitched squeaky one? He tried rolling away from the man, however, Zack’s iron grip on his hip kept him in place.

“Don’t lie to me, Peco. Y-you’ve been asleep for a few days,” Zack replied. Then Peco realized how blood shot Zack’s eyes actually was.

“I’m not, Zack. Surprisingly, I’m not in as much pain as I should be. Considering, you know, that I just gave birth to a demonic version of myself,” then Peco’s expression turned to horror. “Oh god, I gave birth. I gave freaking birth to another human being!”

Zack chuckled as he pushed himself up to lean on his elbows. “I wonder who their father is.”

Peco laughed. “Yeah. Zack…” Peco didn’t know what to say, really. Why had Zack stayed with him during the night instead of Azami? The other Peco had told him that Zack couldn’t have cared less if he lived or died and that was what fueled Peco. Fueled him to be able to survive the monster within him. He was so confused, so angry at the fact that Zack was playing Peco’s feelings. Peco was no longer a toy! He had the power to never get hurt again! Well, he had had the power until he’d thrown it away to stop himself from hurting Zack himself.

“Zack, did you get the memory?” Peco asked.

Zack looked him through the eye. “Memory? You mean that flashdrive thing?”

Peco nodded. “Did you… uh, grab it?”

“Peco, you don’t need it. And no, we didn’t. That other guy got it,” Zack replied.

“Oh god,” Peco said and than he was pushing himself out of the bed and to his feet. Peco wanted to cry out in pain, but he didn’t.

“Peco, what’s wrong?” Zack asked, as he climbed out of the bed to.

“I-I know him better than anyone. If he has the memory, he’ll hurt people! I told you to kill us so this wouldn’t happen! With both of us alive, Zawame will never be safe!” Peco exclaimed as he located his old Baron shirt and winced as he pulled it on over his injuries.

“Kill you?” Zack hissed as his large hands helped Peco hold on the jacket and slip it over his tiny shoulders. “You really think I’d be able to do that? I… I…”

“What Zack? I’m not some weak tiny toy anymore. I’ve finally got power like you and Kaito!” Peco shouted. “I was dangerous. My only fault was that I couldn’t control the _thing_ inside me!”

“P-Peco,” Zack whispered, his tough façade fading away.

“He was premature! Easy pickings! I did it for you, because maybe you’d care about me. I couldn’t live without you, but when I learned how, you came back to ruin it! You’re an asshole, Zack,” Peco hissed, wincing from the strain on his ribs.

Zack grabbed his shoulders and stopped him. “Peco, damn it, you don’t understand. Shut up for once and listen to me! I love you! Ok, there, I said it again. The first time I said it, I meant it, but you didn’t remember it. So, I’ll say it again. I love you. More than I ever felt for Azami. It took me awhile to figure it out, and I’m sorry, but I know now. I love you. You, just you.”

Peco looked disgusted at him. “How could you… play my emotions like that?

“I-I’m not,” Zack replied and pulled the smaller one to his chest, not letting go. “I wouldn’t do that to you. Not you.”

Peco let a strangled cry escape his mouth and then the tears came in a torrent. Months of pent up frustration and pain finally escaped. Zack did what he knew how to do and rubbed soothing circles into Peco’s back. He knew the smaller Baron so well that asking Peco to talk would be like asking Kaito to smile before he had died. If Peco wanted to talk about it, he would. Zack hoped he would, that was how one healed after all. He wouldn’t force it out of the little guy though, Peco had had to many things forcing their ways out of him for now.

Peco fisted Zack’s thin white shirt and the other punched him in the chest. Over and over again, but they were feather light and he could barely even feel them. He trusted Peco enough to know that the boy wouldn’t actually hurt him. Plus, he didn’t think Peco was totally aware of what his fist was doing, and it wasn’t his fault. In a way, he wished the punches would actually hurt because he deserved it.

“Why did you leave me?” Peco cried, his voice slightly muffled from being buried into Zack’s chest. “I didn’t know what to do after you left. A-and then I was given that… that power and I couldn’t…I… Zack. It was like I was dying on the inside, like I didn’t even exist anymore. I thought if I separated myself from everyone, that when I did die, it wouldn’t hurt anyone. Like it would have, anyway. You, Kaito, and Azami were gone and you three were the only ones who truly cared about me. I tried to reach out to you, but he wouldn’t let me. He said some of the worst things… and I believed him.”

“Shh, Peco, it’s not your fault. Its mine, and I’m so sorry,” Zack whispered as he put his chin on top of Peco’s head.

Peco sniffled and looked up at Zack before shaking his head. “It’s not, Zack. You were following your dream with Azami. He was right, the first few transformations were me. It started out as me helping people, but I just started hurting those same people… and I couldn’t stop. It is my fault for ever using the memory. Cuz, even now, I want it back. I want to use it again, even if I know I can’t. I wanted you to be happy, Zack, but I guess I screwed that up to.”

“You’re an idiot,” Zack sighed. “I liked living with Azami, she was amazing. But, she didn’t share the burden like we do. It wasn’t my dream, because you weren’t there Peco. And in order to see that, I had to actually be close to losing you, and I’m sorry.”

Peco didn’t say anything; he just let it sink in. Somewhere, deep inside his mind, he believed Zack was lying. How could he not? Peco was still a male and that wasn’t socially acceptable, and Zack was more or less straight. Why was Peco even thinking about this at the moment when an evil version of him was running around, hurting more people? He wished Kaito was still with him, Kaito always knew what to do. Always. Peco could put his trust into the armored rider and know that everything was going to be ok, but it wasn’t. Because Peco knew that both of himself wouldn’t be able to live parallel in this world. One of them had to die, and right now, Peco was the weakest. Even if he pushed the other out of his body before he was ready, it had been eating his strength for months. And Peco hadn’t noticed because he was too far gone in his grief and anger at Zack and his sister. Now… it was to quiet inside his head, and he didn’t like it. He longed for the pain on the right side of his brain which signaled that the other was still with him. Hadn’t abandoned him yet. All those empty lies he had said, _I’ll love you when no one else will. I’m always gonna be there for you. I’ll keep you safe. I’ll avenge your pain._ And so many others that Peco had believed, and that was a mistake.

“How?” Peco asked.

“How, what do you mean?” Zack replied as he pushed Peco back to look into his eyes.

“How can you care after everything that’s happened?” Peco replied. “This isn’t the old days where the most dangerous thing of battle were the Inves games. And then you had just lock seeds that protected you and you only fought for stages. How could you so easily forgive me? I’ve gone past Micchi… I think I even killed people. I can’t tell, yet, but what if I have?”

“How?” Zack pondered that for a second. “You messed up, not gonna lie. Just as Micchi did, now it’s your time of redemption. And I forgave you the second you rid yourself of the other you. You fought against yourself for our sake. Your friends, your comrades. Isn’t that enough?”

Peco nodded. After all, he guessed everyone did forgive Micchi in the end. Peco did to, and so did Kouta and Mai. Maybe if he begged, they’d all forgive him to.

“And anyway, from the day at the Group Dance event, you remember that?” Zack asked and Peco nodded again. “Well, that was the first day I transformed. I didn’t do it for Kaito, I didn’t do it for Kouta, or Team Baron. I did it for you, to protect you. You led Team Baron that day so beautifully that I couldn’t _not_ protect you. You made history, Peco, you bridged the gap between Gaim, Baron, Raid Wild, Invitto, and the others. This is me protecting you, again. That’s the only thing I’d do over and over again.”

“Zack,” Peco said, to shocked to say anything else.

“I really am sorry. That had to be hell,” Zack answered quickly, stroking Peco’s smooth, soft cheek with his thumb. “I’m so happy that you healed up immediately. It was amazing, we thought you were gonna bleed to death or something. But you didn’t, your skin closed the wounds and everything.”

“It was. Although, I could be good company when I wanted to be. And it’s just after effects of the memory that we share,” Peco mumbled.

Zack raised an eyebrow. “You are good company. And I’ll pretend that that wasn’t creepy.”

Peco only beamed up at him like he was some kind of god. Zack had never been able to get enough of that addicting attention and the care Peco had always given him. It meant more to Zack than Kaito’s friendship, and that was the black and white truth.

“Anyway, get your shoes on. You’re already dressed, courteous of me… so yeah. Everybody wants to see you, though, it seems like you’ve all been through hell together.”

Peco understood what he meant, and he felt horrible. Here he was thinking that no one cared about him and all that crap, and there they were fighting to keep him alive. Defeat the dopant him, sure, but they had also protected him. Had also reached out to him multiple times… and that meant something to the little Baron.

“Yes, leader,” Peco teased.

“Oi, I’m not your leader anymore,” Zack grumbled but instead of saying anything else, Peco leaned up towards Zack. Zack’s instincts kicked in immediately and he leaned down to make it easier for Peco. His eyes trained on Peco’s lips and his heart beat a hundred miles to fast for him. Instead of kissing the taller Baron, though, Peco’s childish antics reappeared and he pinched Zack’s cheek instead. Then Peco limped quickly out of the door.

“Peco! Get back here and kiss me! That was against the rules! You can’t do that!” Zack shouted after the boy.

“No, it wasn’t,” Peco replied, then his ears reddened. “Oh, you know how you saw me…well naked? Yeah, could you… could you forget that?” Then Peco disappeared around the corner.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright just two more chapters. YAY!! Then we're caught up to the Wattpad story. I've really neglected you guys.... yikes!

Zack ended up getting one of the old lock seed bikes, and they headed for Gaim’s headquarters. It wasn’t a bad idea either, because the bike was barely big enough for two people. Which resulted in tiny Peco being pressed tightly against his back and his arms around his large waist. Zack hadn’t realized how much he had missed having Peco so near… it just wasn’t the same with Azami. Maybe because Azami could hold her own in a fight and Zack loved protecting people. Zack loved those kinds of people who couldn’t fight for themselves and needed him. The ones who liked to touch and be touched because he guiltily did. And that’s what had attracted Zack to Peco, for those reasons. Back then, it was just to find someone he could dominate and control. But then he got to know Peco, knew every quirk the boy had. He knew how Peco got so energetic sometimes that he couldn’t stop bouncing around. He knew that Peco had the best precision with his slingshot than anyone Zack had ever known. He knew that Peco had a scar on his back where someone had used a knife against the boy and if it wasn’t for Zack’s close watch, it could have been worse. He missed everything about Peco, even the things he hated. Like how Peco admired Zack in a way that made his chest hurt, but it’d never be the way he looked up at Kaito. He hated how Kaito had acted so protective over Peco, when in reality, it was Zack who vowed to protect him.

Zack pulled the bike beside W’s and let the smaller boy get off first. Then he swung his long legs over the side and got off. The two climbed the stairs, Zack giving Peco some support even though the boy begrudgingly took it. They opened the door and walked in. Immediately, everyone who had been sitting around the head quarters got up out of their chairs and looked at the duo. Then they all came rushing up the stairs as if Peco was some kind of god. Micchi even pushed his way through to give Peco a hug.

“It’s good to see you up and about,” Jounouchi commented lightly, clapping the smaller boy on the back.

“It’s good to be back,” Peco answered.

“How are you feeling?” Shotaro asked, Philip looking at him expectantly over the half-boiled man’s shoulder.

“Good. Refreshed. Free and clear headed,” Peco listed, giving them a lopsided grin. “Look, thanks guys. I kept part of my sanity knowing that you guys were fighting your ways towards me in there.”

“How… un-Peco like,” Philip commented dryly.

“Why you…!” Shotaro scolded turning towards the data human and wrestling him into a headlock.

“We’re just glad you’re safe, boy,” Oren answered. “It hasn’t been the same without you around here annoying the hell out of us.”

Peco smiled and nodded. “We’ll look forward to it, I’ve got some new tricks up my sleeve that I never thought of.”

“Oh, that reminds me!” Micchi said excitedly and then he bounced back down the stairs. Peco followed after him curiously, Zack in tow.

“So, after Zack left you remember how you snapped it. Then we bought you a replacement, and you discarded it, but then we knew it wasn’t you and stuff and that it was the thing inside you. You remember that day, right?” Micchi asked as he sorted through a messy pile.

“How could I forget that day?” Peco replied.

Micchi nodded as he found what he was looking for. It was a tiny little box, the right size for... “I know how that feels. And we were so determined to save you that we uncovered the original and Philip fixed it. For you, so when we did save you, you’d have it back.”

Peco’s hands shook as he took the box from Micchi and opened the lid. Inside, nestled in some newspaper was a familiar sling shot. The wood was smooth and worn down to just the way Peco liked it, the rubber band in top condition.

“Its not much, but we did what we could.” Shotaro said coming up behind the three.

“It’s perfect,” Peco replied as he pulled it out of the box and set the container on the counter. He turned the sling shot over and over in his hands getting used to feeling once more. The smooth oak wood, the brittle rubber band, and the leather piece right in the middle. It’d been months since he last held something like this… months. And now he didn’t feel as weak and naked anymore, he finally had his greatest weapon. His memories rested in the weapon, back when he was with his brother… when his brother was alive. Everything was going to be ok, now.

 

Eventually, everyone got settled down again. After all, they didn’t have time to party or rejoice. The other Peco was out there, and he had a head start on them. Philip couldn’t read everything in the library about his family, so further investigating the memory called Darkness would be impossible. That’s where Peco’s months of experience of battling the thing it created came in.

“So, you’ve been out for a few days. We haven’t heard or seen your doppelganger at all. Is he going to stay premature forever, or will he build his body?” Shotaro asked.

“I birthed him premature, but he’ll grow. Definitely, as long as I’m still alive. We’re still connected by the back of our minds like a pressure point or something. He still continues to feed off of me. If he would have been killed when we were both still vulnerable, then this wouldn’t have happened. But, I can’t blame you because you all got beaten pretty bad so…”

“Can you see where he is?” Philip asked, studying Peco more closely.

“I can’t. Maybe when he was still inside me and could only manifest outside my body for short periods of times, but not now. He’s a life form that can fully function itself,” Peco answered. “Even if you did find him, I don’t think he could be killed by normal measures, not while I’m still alive. It has to be his hand that kills me, the memory is sensitive like that.”

“Hmm… what about if we blow him up? How exactly would you kill him?” Micchi asked. “Another Gaia Memory?”

“We’ve used our Gaia Memories against him and it didn’t work,” Shotaro replied.

“Maybe another Gaia Memory like the one I put in my hip,” Peco replied as he pulled up his shirt to reveal the Bio Connector on his hip.

“Memories don’t share Bio Connectors,” Shotaro answered. “Even if you got your hands on another, you’d have to have it surgically matched to your body. And, by experience, having more than one memory can change you for the worst.”

“No, hold on Shotaro. I think I found something compelling. When I was looking up the limited information on the Darkness memory it said something peculiar. Something I didn’t think about at the time,” Philip said.

Shotaro turned towards his partner. “And you didn’t mention this to me because…?”

“I’m sorry Shotaro, I didn’t think anything of it,” Philip said, getting distressed. Shotaro sensed it almost immediately and calmed down.

“It’s fine. What did you find?”

“Something was made alongside it, a Light memory. If killing the two is impossible, not that we want to kill our Peco, then we need a backup plan. We can’t make up a plan on the go like you do. But the Light Memory was created to counter the other. To kill the other, Shotaro. I’ve looked it up now, and I know that it was created. Museum has the Light Memory still, it should share the same Bio Connector inside this Peco,” Philip said.

“No,” Zack demanded. “Peco is _not_ using another memory. Ever.”

“Zack, you can’t make that decision!” Peco argued.

“I can, because I almost lost you. And I’m not risking it again.”

“Zack!”

“Peco, he’s right. You can’t do this again. You know if you fight with the other Peco one last time, one of you will have to die,” Micchi said. “And I know you’re strong, but he’s grown a lot larger and a lot stronger than you.”

“I realize that, but, if it’s the other that goes down… then the battle will be over,” Peco said, his eyes connecting with Zack’s. “I can stop this before anyone else gets hurt. I’d be cleaning up my mess, like Kaito taught us.”

“What happens when you’re the one who dies, huh?” Zack snarled.

“Zack, you have to let me try,” Peco replied his hand finding its way to Zack’s shoulder.

Peco was used to Zack’s stubbornness, and he was used to Zack’s anger. Outspoken, explosive. But the cold fury of a fuming Zack? Peco had never encountered that before and it scared him. Peco could try all he wanted at changing Zack’s mind, but Zack would still say no.

“No. N O means no,” Zack growled. “You’re not going through the insanity again and getting yourself hurt! Not for Kaito, not for this measly group who think its ok, and not for the world. I don’t care, I’m not watching the same thing happen again as you lose yourself.”

“Uh, Zack, the memory may be different. There’s a possibility that it’ll be safer,” Philip explained.

“Peco’s not taking that chance!” Zack shouted and then he was hauling Peco up by his shoulders. “Come on, we’re leaving.”

“Zack, sit back down!” Shotaro shouted but the taller man would have none of it. Not after he sat by Peco’s bedside for two and a half days wondering if he’d ever wake up. Not when Zack couldn’t… he couldn’t lose Peco. He was beyond terrified that he might.

“Zack, stop,” Peco said in a higher pitched voice, but he was no match to resist him. Zack dragged him out the door and Peco just sighed. He knew what he had to do after all.

“Zack,” Peco tried again.

“What?”

Peco grabbed his helmet and ran his hands over the smooth surface. He looked up at the ex-armored rider and worried his bottom lip. “I-I’m… hungry.”

Zack’s facial expression softened. “Of course, should have told me sooner.” Then Zack mounted the bike and put his helmet on. Peco had no other option but to do so as well.

But when Zack pulled away, Peco buried his face into the other’s sturdy back. Maybe Zack did care for him as much as he cared about Zack. That’s what Kaito had told him, back before the banana armored rider died. He had laughed in Peco’s face and said Zack had a weakness for him. Was he right? Which made it harder, because Peco needed that other memory. He had to face himself in this battle, and he had to be the one to kill the other. It was the only way he could assure everyone’s safety. It was the only way Peco could get closure. The fight couldn’t be between anyone else but them. Just like it was meant to be. He knew where he could find that woman, Sonazaki Saeko, and he’d get the other memory from her. She had it, after all. Zack would just have to not know until it happened, or else Zack would never let him out of his sights. He knew how he could distract the man, if only just for a short amount of time.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally caught up!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAY! :D

Zack and Peco spent the entire day going from one sight to the next until Peco was tired out. He had, though, been able slip his phone out and text Hidari Shotaro his plan. Shotaro hadn’t agreed for a long while and had thought it was too risky, but he understood. Shotaro had, of course, done some risky things to keep Philip safe. Most times they ended out ok, anyway, so Peco had faith. He had faith in W, he had faith in Micchi, Oren, and Jounouchi. He’d make it out ok. And it wasn’t like charming Zack was a difficult task, Peco had always had that special ability to trick people. He had originally wanted to win Zack over anyway, but now even more so. And little by little, Peco could see Zack fall for it. Whether it be the roller coaster, the Ferris wheel, the ‘date’ at Charmant (with Oren’s help), or the walk at the park under the star lit sky.

The day had been amazing, even for Peco, and he felt refreshed. But now came the last step of the plan as Zack drove them to Peco’s apartment. After all, it was Peco’s home anyway and it was less lonely then the headquarters. Partly because Peco was eager to show Zack what he had accomplished while Zack had been away with Azami. God, he hadn’t seen his sister since their return and he didn’t know if texting her counted. Either way, no matter how many times he apologized to her about Zack she only replied. _I don’t mind, Peco. He loved you first, and he would never be able to love me like he did you. Just make sure the douche doesn’t hurt you or I’m punching him in the face._ Peco had laughed for a good ten minutes, completely confusing his best friend. Or whatever they were now.

Peco eagerly led Zack up the stairs to his place and jammed the key into the lock. Then he swung the door open and invited the other in. Zack obediently followed which made Peco’s betrayal harder. He was unsuspecting.

“Not bad. You did good,” Zack whispered as he looked at a few pictures of Peco and his high school friends.

“Thanks. Would you like anything to drink?” Peco asked and Zack shook his head.

The man held up a framed picture of the smiling faces of Micchi, Jounouchi, Shotaro, Philip and him. “Were you friends before… this happened?”

“Not really. That was a month or so after you left. They’d come in two weeks prior for the dopant me, and they didn’t suspect I was him. But, back then, I didn’t even know I was hurting people. I thought I was chasing after another dopant and stuff… and yeah, we all became friends. Micchi is pretty cool now, I like him more than I did when he wasn’t well, on our side,” Peco explained.

“Ah,” Zack commented.

“Hey Zack could you help me replace the bandages?” Peco asked.

“Yeah, of course. Do you have a first aid kit?” Zack asked and Peco nodded before pointing to the bathroom.

“I started keeping one with me when I got beaten up pretty bad and stuff,” Peco replied.

Then Zack disappeared to get it and bring it back. He set it on Peco’s counter and flipped the lid up before laying out the roll of bandages. Then Zack gestured for Peco to jump up on the counter so Zack could reach him better. Zack situated himself in between Peco’s legs, an awkward position, but it worked. Without having to be told, Zack helped Peco out of his jacket and then helped him out of his shirt. Then Zack’s hands were gently unrolling the bandages from his sides. The further down he got, blood started to stain through the white bandages. That actually surprised Peco. He should have actually felt the wounds, but Peco hadn’t. He should have, but why didn’t he? What was truly wrong with his body? Zack set the gauze down by Peco’s side and started to slowly peel the bandages from his skin. There was one sitting at his collar bone, one a few inches beneath that, and then another on his stomach. A large bloodied bandage stretched over his shoulder and the last one went lengthwise up his chest. All bloodied in some way, as if they couldn’t seal themselves and stop. Peco could easily tell that Zack was worried and pissed at the same time. Peco knew that Zack was angry at Peco’s ‘team’ for even suggesting the idea. But Zack had to get over it, this was Peco’s time to fix what was broken. He didn’t like the idea that they came up with to get Zack out of the game, but it was all they could do. Zack wouldn’t let Peco escape out of his line of sight, and that would be the problem. But if Peco could get a hold of that other memory, and Philip was currently figuring out Saeko’s whereabouts, he could kill the other Peco. Or the other Peco would kill him, it was only a matter of time. Zack could try all he wanted to, all in the name of protecting Peco. But it wouldn’t be enough, and Zack would get hurt. He had to do this, he had to. He had to. He had to.

“I don’t ever want to see you hurt like this again,” Zack said darkly as he walked over to the sink to wet a wash cloth. The man then slid it over Peco’s bare skin, collecting the dried blood. “Why won’t these heal? Its been days since your fight with yourself.”

“I think its because the other is hurt to and we’re still connected. These are both of our injuries, shared together,” Peco whispered. “Do you see why its important that we kill the other? I will never heal until he’s gone.”

“I know, Peco, but you’re not going to be the one with the memory. If I have to, I’ll take on that burden. I swore to keep you safe, and this is me keeping you safe,” Zack answered as put disinfectant on the open wounds causing Peco to wince. “Sorry.”

He knew that that wouldn’t work. Peco knew that the only way to kill the other was for him to actually do it, no other way would work. Peco didn’t say anything as Zack put clean bandages over the wounds again. Then he cut more gauze around Peco’s body ever so slowly and precisely. Peco breathed out as arches of pain launched through his tiny body but he refused to cry out. Not this time either, he wouldn’t be weak. Not anymore, he was Zack’s equal. He no longer needed to stand behind the taller man and cower.

“I’m sorry,” Peco whispered, causing Zack’s hand to still. “I don’t want to do it either, please don’t let them force me into it.”

Peco played on Zack’s protective feelings, and it worked oh to well. Zack looked at him with the softest, determined feeling. “I won’t let them near you. You’re going to be safe with me.”

Then Peco’s hand pulled Zack’s chin towards him, Zack’s dark eyes connecting with Peco’s. Then Peco smashed his lips against Zack’s, causing the taller man to drop what was in his hand in surprise. He wasn’t unresponsive for long, and started kissing Peco back. Electricity shot up through Peco’s little body like he’d stepped on a live wire and the air around him grew too hot, too fast. The kiss itself was sloppy and rushed. In other words, absolutely perfect and Peco couldn’t let go. Not even when both were gasping for breath. Peco just twisted his fingers in Zack’s black hair and pulled gently, pressing himself closer to the man. Why hadn’t they done this sooner? Think of all the months that they could have been like this but chose not to. This was addicting and Peco couldn’t get enough. He couldn’t get enough of Zack’s hands scratching at the soft skin on his back. It was all too much at once. But Peco held on tighter, pulling Zack even closer and bit the taller man’s lip. Zack’s tongue pried open Peco’s mouth, wet and demanding. Peco let him in, and their tongues battled for dominance.

“Peco,” Zack gasped against the smaller man’s lips, but he didn’t pull away. Peco knew what Zack was trying to say and he put distance between the two. Both heaved air back into their lungs, but Peco couldn’t ignore the huge grin on Zack’s face.

Then Zack started laughing. “Wow. I kinda want to do that again.”

“Yeah, wow,” Peco said breathlessly, causing Zack’s eyes to darken further. “And I do to.”

Zack shook his head and helped Peco slid down. “You’ve got to be exhausted. Can I stay with you tonight, I mean, just to make sure you stay safe.”

Peco grabbed Zack’s hand. “Yeah of course.”

Zack smiled down at him as he ran one of his hands gently through Peco’s hair. “Cool, then.”

So maybe that wasn’t part of the plan, but Peco really didn’t want to sleep in a cold bed by himself tonight. He’d really appreciate it if Zack were with him, after all, he’d been so alone for so long. Thank god, he thought to himself, that he had actually kept some large clothes around that might fit Zack.

 

                Good news, the pajama bottoms fit Zack! Bad news, the top didn’t. Or was that bad news in Peco’s case? He didn’t care. He certainly didn’t care when he got to curl up into Zack’s bare chest and heard the other’s heartbeat. And he really didn’t care when Zack couldn’t keep himself from kissing Peco a little too much like Zack had been deprived of Oxygen. Peco decided to keep the fact that he and Zack had made out away from the others, and that was final. He didn’t allow himself to close his eyes though, even with Zack light snore lulling him into the world of dreams and his arms tight around Peco’s body. He refused to submit.

                Time ticked by ever so slowly, and Peco counted every minute. His eyes wanted to close and bury themselves into Zack’s warmth, but Peco remained alert. He wouldn’t so much as move until Zack’s breathing completely evened out. At around 12ish, it did just that. At first, Peco didn’t want to leave the bed but he had to. So he carefully unwound Zack’s arms around him, and he said Peco liked to cuddle! He was like a freaking heavy bear! And he tiptoed out of the room, grabbing some of his clothes. He carefully slid a shirt over the bandages and pulled on his jacket. Lastly, he changed his pants and toed on his shoes. And then Peco was out the door, going to the location where he’d get the power to destroy the other.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The newest chapter is up! Hope you all like it! Lol! Definitely not my best fight scene, but oh well. Right?

Philip had been right, as Peco came upon the same woman he had months and months ago. Peco limped to the exact same place and not few seconds later, she came from the other side. She wore the same clothes as last time, the black shroud hiding her face. In her hands, she clutched the suitcase.

                “Did your gigantic boyfriend finally let you go?” Sonazaki Saeko asked darkly.

                “I need to ask you a favor,” Peco replied.

                “Oh, a favor? How interesting! Didn’t you learn your lesson from the last memory I gave you?”

                “I want… the twin memory to Darkness,” Peco demanded.

                Saeko pulled a white memory from the suitcase and waved it around. “Oh, this one?”

                Peco reached out to it, but Saeko pulled it away. “Look, I need to use it to battle myself on equal ground.”

                “I’m afraid I don’t think I can help you,” Saeko replied. “After all, the Darkness memory is the most interesting I’ve ever seen.”

                “I’ll give you both of them back after I destroy the other,” Peco promised.

                “Hidari Shotaro and Raito will not let you,” Saeko replied.

                “Raito? You mean Philip, Shotaro’s partner?” Peco asked.

                “Hm, my brother never made the right decisions in the men he loved, but what can I do? I’ll give you the memory, of course, and see what comes of it. I need more research on the Light memory anyway, and you’d be a good guinea pig,” Saeko replied and then she handed the memory over to Peco.

                Peco look down at it and closed his fists around it. Now, it was time for he and himself to go to war.

 

                “Where is he?” Zack demanded as he threw open Gaim headquarters. Philip’s head popped up from where it was laying on Shotaro’s shoulder.

                “Who?” Shotaro asked carefully, slowly getting up.

                “Who do you think, where is Peco,” Zack snarled, his fists bared and ready to punch Shotaro. Immediately, Philip was up on his feet and beside Shotaro. That calmed down Zack almost immediately, because Philip reminded Zack of a more intelligent Peco. And Zack understood that Philip depended on Shotaro and had attached familiar feelings to the man. Then Zack noticed that Azami was there to.

                “Look Zack, I get it ok? But Peco knows what he’s doing,” Shotaro answered.

                “But what happens when he gets hurt?”

                “Well, you’ll be there to keep him safe. And we’ll be there for him to. Peco trusts you a lot more than you think,” Shotaro answered.

                “I-I know,” Zack replied.

                “He’s right Zack,” Azami spoke up, her voice hitting him like a ton of bricks.

                “Azami…” Zack whispered, recalling what all had happened in the last few days and what that meant for Peco’s sister and him.

                Azami put a hand on Zack’s chest. “I know. I’m not angry, and I’m glad you could love him when I haven’t been around to do so. Peco needs all the love he can get his hands on, and you’re the only one I’ll trust with the job. Because Peco’s had some really bad relationships and I trust you, but if you hurt Peco, I’ll make sure you will never be able to have kids again.”

                Zack looked upon Peco’s older sister in fear. He was cut off by a beeping noise, distracting the three in the room. Shotaro dove for a large looking phone and read something off of the screen. “Its time, Peco’s acquired the second memory and he’s lead the other to Zawame’s biggest park. Niden.”

                “Go Zack, protect Peco. Give him something to fight for,” Azami demanded.

                Shotaro bowed his head to Zack and Azami and then the two that made up W bolted away. Zack had no choice but to follow. It didn’t take long to reach the place of ‘the final battle’ as Philip called it. Already, the two Peco’s stood opposite of each other. Zack’s Peco was leaning on a cane, slightly hunched over. The other Peco stood a whole couple fee taller, and his back perfectly straight. It was like one of those old, American western movies where two people stood opposite of each other and waited for the clock to tick down. And then one of the guys shot the other to death. Zack parked his bike alongside Shotaro and Philip’s. Immediately following, Micchi, Jounouchi, and Oren Pierre Alfonso ran up to stand at their sides.

                But both Peco’s were unnaturally still, giving each other the best death glare of their lives. Then, as if in silent agreement, they raised their hands and brandished their memories. One pitch black, the other bright white and shinning.

                Chapter 13

                _Darkness! Light!_ The memories screamed out as the two users rushed at each other. In a fluid motion, the two ripped away their shirt and inserted the memories into the matching Bio Connectors on their hips. They collided heavily, the littlest Peco getting shoved back. However, he didn’t stay back for long, and used his heavy arm to punch the other to the ground. The darkness dopant hissed and bit onto Peco’s arm, but Peco bashed its head into the ground. With a well placed kick, the monster flattened out. Suddenly, it grabbed Peco’s feet and ripped them from right underneath him and Peco fell to the ground. It climbed on top of him and way laid into him, punch after punch was let loose on his armored face. Peco tried pushing the other off, but by weight standards, the other Peco was more heavier.

                Peco put his hands to the other’s chest and let his skin burn causing the other to cry out and scramble away from Peco. Then Peco grabbed a hold of its head and dragged it to its feet before slamming it into the trunk of a tree. He faintly could hear the cheering of his friends, and for a second his eyes connected with Zack’s fearful ones. Then Peco’s body slammed into the other, pushing him to a set of stairs. Peco winced as they fell down them, tumbling one over another.

                “Peco!” Peco heard someone scream but he couldn’t focus on that.

                The other Peco grabbed a hold of him and slammed him into the railing. Peco easily slipped under it after wards and swung his entire body over it and kicked the evil one away. The other screamed in outrage and blindly swung its arms towards Peco. It was a simple side step and then the other was falling up the stairs. Peco silently cheered to himself. Then with his adrenaline still pumping through his veins, he roundhouse kicked his evil twin making the other fall. He didn’t get up and Peco thought maybe he’d won. But then the other’s armored hand shot out and grabbed a large chunk of rock and smashed it against Peco’s skull.

                Peco cried out and fall backwards, down the second set of stairs. Even in dopant form, his head bled and he couldn’t focus good enough to even get one foot right in front of the other. He wasn’t even seeing straight. Peco tried to rise to his feet, but the other raised the rock above his head and threw it down onto Peco. Immediately Peco felt like all of his ribs break and he could barely breath. Peco whimpered as he tried to stand again, but couldn’t. Suddenly someone tackled the other and Peco saw that it was Zack in a blaze of fury that Peco’d only see happen three times. Those three times had been the scariest moments in Peco’s life. Zack tried to beat his fists into the tough armor around his other self, but a dopant wasn’t a man that Zack could fight. Peco watched in horror as Zack was chucked into a tree, completely ripping it from its roots and toppled over him. He didn’t move.

                “Zack!” Peco cried.

                Peco saw red, and then he was renewed with more strength. He tackled the monster and pounded into his head over and over and over again. The other couldn’t shake him off because Peco had used his smaller size to his advantage and had attached himself to the other’s back. The darkness dopant tried to break him off of but Peco refused to budge. He ignored the pain he went through. It was until the other got a hold of Peco’s arm that things went bad. The monster snapped it backwards to break the bone and Peco screamed as his body felt to the ground. Before Peco went down, he summoned a large blast of light and shoved it straight into the other’s eye socket. It left only charred skin in its wake, and the other Peco was blinded. Both Peco’s fell to the ground, their memories flying out of their bodies and sat in between them. Peco pushed himself to his feet with one hand and smashed both memories in one go. Then Peco’s body couldn’t take anymore and it fell back to the ground. Peco screamed out again as his left arm moved, the bloodied mess of it at least. The other Peco was in no better position. His face was beaten beyond recognition and his chest was cut open. The other Peco looked up at him as he tried reaching for the shattered remains of their memories.

                “W-what have you d-done?” The other Peco stumbled out, his words completely slurred and Peco could barely understand him.

                “I’ve ended you,” Peco said between gritted teeth as he forced his broken, bloodied arm to _move_ forward.

                “We coulda’… we,” the other Peco tried saying, his voice thick with tears of frustration and hatred. “We could have changed the world like Kaito wanted… we could have created something that’d last for ages.”

                “Shh, rest now, my friend,” Peco whispered as he reached his hand towards his ripped jacket’s pocket. “Everything’s ok, we’re going to be ok.”

He pulled out his sling shot and a small 2” knife blade. His hands shook as he forced his other arm to hold the sling shot up. Then he leveled it to the other’s burned remains of eyes. With grit teeth, and Peco tried not crying out, he put the blade into the cup. Then he pulled the string back. His hands shook as he looked into the beaten copy of his own face, and he knew that this was the right thing to do. He didn’t know if he would die alongside his copy or if he lived, but he couldn’t let him stay. Not in this world where he could hurt more people than he had. Peco wouldn’t let the other hurt anymore people, it wasn’t what Kaito would want. Or Kouta. Kouta had sacrificed so much to keep the world the way it was… Peco couldn’t destroy what Kouta had protected.

“I-I loved you when no one else did. Why do I have to die?” The other Peco asked, tears sliding down his bloodied, bruised cheek. “Zack didn’t want you… no one wanted us. I was there…”

“Because I’m the winner,” Peco whispered as he pulled the string tighter, so the knife would hit faster. A faster death would be more humane. “And I loved you to, for all that its worth. You were me, that will never change. We were one, like you wanted. I’m sorry I created you, my emotions were too strong and now you’re suffering. I’m so sorry.”

The other Peco breathed out a sigh of relief. “That’s all I ever wanted, was for someone to love me back and to acknowledge… my existence.”

Peco choked up as tears slid down his own cheeks and he cried. He let go of the slingshot’s rubber band. He turned his head away as he listened to the sickening sound of the knife going through the other’s brain in the right position to immediately kill him. The other Peco’s head dropped heavily against the pavement with a heavy thump, and his body stilled. No more breaths escaped through his parted lips. And for the months that Peco had spent with the other, he cried. He slowly turned his head to see what was left of the other. Right above his eyes was the impalement wound, blood streaming out of it. Only the hilt of the knife was still sticking out of his head. The body started to deteriorate right before Peco’s eyes and soon all that was left was a pile of ashes. A fitting end… for him. Then Peco remembered Zack and he dropped the slingshot, got to his feet and went running. He didn’t even care about his mauled arm or the numb pain he felt. Zack was probably in worse shape then him.

“Zack!” Peco cried as he fell to his knees before the other man and pushed the tree limbs off of him. He ripped his shirt up to put bandages over Zack’s bleeding head and tied them tight to stem the bleeding as best as he could.

The other’s eyes were open and wide, starring up at him with amazement. Peco ran his fingers down Zack’s cheek and checked his neck for a steady pulse. Thank god it was steady and not fluctuating. Very carefully, Peco slid his knees under Zack’s shoulder, alleviating the man slightly and to get him off the ground as best as he could. The stubborn asshole had survived the hit, and Peco was more than thankful. He’d already lost Kaito, he wouldn’t have been able to lose Zack. Especially to this large of a mistake Peco’d caused.

“Wow, you’re beautiful,” Zack mumbled as he ran his bloodied hand down Peco’s cheek, caressing it. Peco laughed.

“So are you,” Peco replied, catching his hand.

“I think we need to go to the hospital,” Zack said. “Got to fix that arm.”

“Gotta fix your head, to, Zack,” Peco said as he pushed the hair out of Zack’s face. “Although, there’s not much they can do for you.”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah,” Zack answered as he pulled Peco’s head down to give him a quick peck on the lips. “I can’t believe we lived.”

“Peco was me, Zack. We both were weak in the end, and that was the weakness that killed him.

                “You’ve never been weak, Peco. You were the strongest I’ve ever met. You stayed by Kaito and I’s side even without a Henshin belt, and you stayed behind to fight for Zawame. It wasn’t weakness that killed him, it was your strength,” Zack answered.

                “I love you,” Peco whispered.

                “I know.”

Shotaro and Philip had the right state of mind to call the ambulance for them.


	13. Chapter 13

_Darkness! Light!_ The memories screamed out as the two users rushed at each other. In a fluid motion, the two ripped away their shirt and inserted the memories into the matching Bio Connectors on their hips. They collided heavily, the littlest Peco getting shoved back. However, he didn’t stay back for long, and used his heavy arm to punch the other to the ground. The darkness dopant hissed and bit onto Peco’s arm, but Peco bashed its head into the ground. With a well placed kick, the monster flattened out. Suddenly, it grabbed Peco’s feet and ripped them from right underneath him and Peco fell to the ground. It climbed on top of him and way laid into him, punch after punch was let loose on his armored face. Peco tried pushing the other off, but by weight standards, the other Peco was more heavier.

                Peco put his hands to the other’s chest and let his skin burn causing the other to cry out and scramble away from Peco. Then Peco grabbed a hold of its head and dragged it to its feet before slamming it into the trunk of a tree. He faintly could hear the cheering of his friends, and for a second his eyes connected with Zack’s fearful ones. Then Peco’s body slammed into the other, pushing him to a set of stairs. Peco winced as they fell down them, tumbling one over another.

                “Peco!” Peco heard someone scream but he couldn’t focus on that.

                The other Peco grabbed a hold of him and slammed him into the railing. Peco easily slipped under it after wards and swung his entire body over it and kicked the evil one away. The other screamed in outrage and blindly swung its arms towards Peco. It was a simple side step and then the other was falling up the stairs. Peco silently cheered to himself. Then with his adrenaline still pumping through his veins, he roundhouse kicked his evil twin making the other fall. He didn’t get up and Peco thought maybe he’d won. But then the other’s armored hand shot out and grabbed a large chunk of rock and smashed it against Peco’s skull.

                Peco cried out and fall backwards, down the second set of stairs. Even in dopant form, his head bled and he couldn’t focus good enough to even get one foot right in front of the other. He wasn’t even seeing straight. Peco tried to rise to his feet, but the other raised the rock above his head and threw it down onto Peco. Immediately Peco felt like all of his ribs break and he could barely breath. Peco whimpered as he tried to stand again, but couldn’t. Suddenly someone tackled the other and Peco saw that it was Zack in a blaze of fury that Peco’d only see happen three times. Those three times had been the scariest moments in Peco’s life. Zack tried to beat his fists into the tough armor around his other self, but a dopant wasn’t a man that Zack could fight. Peco watched in horror as Zack was chucked into a tree, completely ripping it from its roots and toppled over him. He didn’t move.

                “Zack!” Peco cried.

                Peco saw red, and then he was renewed with more strength. He tackled the monster and pounded into his head over and over and over again. The other couldn’t shake him off because Peco had used his smaller size to his advantage and had attached himself to the other’s back. The darkness dopant tried to break him off of but Peco refused to budge. He ignored the pain he went through. It was until the other got a hold of Peco’s arm that things went bad. The monster snapped it backwards to break the bone and Peco screamed as his body felt to the ground. Before Peco went down, he summoned a large blast of light and shoved it straight into the other’s eye socket. It left only charred skin in its wake, and the other Peco was blinded. Both Peco’s fell to the ground, their memories flying out of their bodies and sat in between them. Peco pushed himself to his feet with one hand and smashed both memories in one go. Then Peco’s body couldn’t take anymore and it fell back to the ground. Peco screamed out again as his left arm moved, the bloodied mess of it at least. The other Peco was in no better position. His face was beaten beyond recognition and his chest was cut open. The other Peco looked up at him as he tried reaching for the shattered remains of their memories.

                “W-what have you d-done?” The other Peco stumbled out, his words completely slurred and Peco could barely understand him.

                “I’ve ended you,” Peco said between gritted teeth as he forced his broken, bloodied arm to _move_ forward.

                “We coulda’… we,” the other Peco tried saying, his voice thick with tears of frustration and hatred. “We could have changed the world like Kaito wanted… we could have created something that’d last for ages.”

                “Shh, rest now, my friend,” Peco whispered as he reached his hand towards his ripped jacket’s pocket. “Everything’s ok, we’re going to be ok.”

He pulled out his sling shot and a small 2” knife blade. His hands shook as he forced his other arm to hold the sling shot up. Then he leveled it to the other’s burned remains of eyes. With grit teeth, and Peco tried not crying out, he put the blade into the cup. Then he pulled the string back. His hands shook as he looked into the beaten copy of his own face, and he knew that this was the right thing to do. He didn’t know if he would die alongside his copy or if he lived, but he couldn’t let him stay. Not in this world where he could hurt more people than he had. Peco wouldn’t let the other hurt anymore people, it wasn’t what Kaito would want. Or Kouta. Kouta had sacrificed so much to keep the world the way it was… Peco couldn’t destroy what Kouta had protected.

“I-I loved you when no one else did. Why do I have to die?” The other Peco asked, tears sliding down his bloodied, bruised cheek. “Zack didn’t want you… no one wanted us. I was there…”

“Because I’m the winner,” Peco whispered as he pulled the string tighter, so the knife would hit faster. A faster death would be more humane. “And I loved you to, for all that its worth. You were me, that will never change. We were one, like you wanted. I’m sorry I created you, my emotions were too strong and now you’re suffering. I’m so sorry.”

The other Peco breathed out a sigh of relief. “That’s all I ever wanted, was for someone to love me back and to acknowledge… my existence.”

Peco choked up as tears slid down his own cheeks and he cried. He let go of the slingshot’s rubber band. He turned his head away as he listened to the sickening sound of the knife going through the other’s brain in the right position to immediately kill him. The other Peco’s head dropped heavily against the pavement with a heavy thump, and his body stilled. No more breaths escaped through his parted lips. And for the months that Peco had spent with the other, he cried. He slowly turned his head to see what was left of the other. Right above his eyes was the impalement wound, blood streaming out of it. Only the hilt of the knife was still sticking out of his head. The body started to deteriorate right before Peco’s eyes and soon all that was left was a pile of ashes. A fitting end… for him. Then Peco remembered Zack and he dropped the slingshot, got to his feet and went running. He didn’t even care about his mauled arm or the numb pain he felt. Zack was probably in worse shape then him.

“Zack!” Peco cried as he fell to his knees before the other man and pushed the tree limbs off of him. He ripped his shirt up to put bandages over Zack’s bleeding head and tied them tight to stem the bleeding as best as he could.

The other’s eyes were open and wide, starring up at him with amazement. Peco ran his fingers down Zack’s cheek and checked his neck for a steady pulse. Thank god it was steady and not fluctuating. Very carefully, Peco slid his knees under Zack’s shoulder, alleviating the man slightly and to get him off the ground as best as he could. The stubborn asshole had survived the hit, and Peco was more than thankful. He’d already lost Kaito, he wouldn’t have been able to lose Zack. Especially to this large of a mistake Peco’d caused.

“Wow, you’re beautiful,” Zack mumbled as he ran his bloodied hand down Peco’s cheek, caressing it. Peco laughed.

“So are you,” Peco replied, catching his hand.

“I think we need to go to the hospital,” Zack said. “Got to fix that arm.”

“Gotta fix your head, to, Zack,” Peco said as he pushed the hair out of Zack’s face. “Although, there’s not much they can do for you.”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah,” Zack answered as he pulled Peco’s head down to give him a quick peck on the lips. “I can’t believe we lived.”

“Peco was me, Zack. We both were weak in the end, and that was the weakness that killed him.

                “You’ve never been weak, Peco. You were the strongest I’ve ever met. You stayed by Kaito and I’s side even without a Henshin belt, and you stayed behind to fight for Zawame. It wasn’t weakness that killed him, it was your strength,” Zack answered.

                “I love you,” Peco whispered.

                “I know.”

Shotaro and Philip had the right state of mind to call the ambulance for them.


	14. Chapter 14: The Last Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we find ourselves at the very last chapter of this story. Thank you everyone for hanging in there with me. :D

Zack smiled up at the stars in the sky, always so peaceful. These were the moments when he felt like he could reach Kaito wherever the man was now. So many things had changed, and they kept changing and Zack wished they wouldn’t but they did. Did that make any sense? Or was Zack just… the only one who was changing? Who knew, really. As long as he could dance, as long as he could keep moving forward, Zack would not fall to something so simple as a wish. Not now. Not when he had so much depending on him. His entire dancing career in America depended on it. And Zack liked America and he liked New York. It was the most interesting thing to him now.

See, it’d been two months since the whole crisis in Zawame city and Zack was glad it was over. Zack had only gotten a concussion which he deemed lucky. Peco, on the other hand, had been in a bad situation. He had had almost all the bones in his arm broken, yet he was still able to help Zack and continue fighting. That took guts. Peco had had many head wounds, and other body wounds. Almost all of his ribs had been broken but amazingly, he survived. They both did. And now Peco was on the road to recovery and Zack on the road to a dancing career in America. Everything was truly settling down now.

Zack smiled as an arm slid around his waist and a smaller body pressed against his. “I thought you were asleep.”

“Hmm, couldn’t get to sleep tonight,” Peco replied. “Its amazing, isn’t it?”

“Yeah it is. All the hell we’ve been through and we’re still alive. I can’t believe it,” Zack answered as he turned around to face the smaller ex-baron member.

Peco smiled up at him. His other arm was encased by a large white cast and it was tucked to his chest tightly, slowly healing. They’d still have scars, Peco more so than others. But it was progress, right? Zack pretended to not notice Peco’s Gaia Memory withdrawals and distracted him with other things. Whether it be a scary movie, a soothing bath, or the Wii, or something else entirely different. Peco was grateful for that. And Zack felt like he wanted to stay forever, in America. Or wherever his career took him. He had Peco with him, now, and that would be home.

Zack laughed and ruffled his hair. “Let’s go inside, it’s getting cold out.”

“Wait!” Peco countered. “I always wanted to kiss you under the stars.”

“I can do that request,” Zack answered and surged forward, pressing their lips together.

It was nice being alive. It really was. And Zack loved kissing Peco. It was perfect every time and it made Zack giddy inside and he liked that feeling. He liked having Peco by his side no matter what. He liked having Peco pressed against him during the night, giving him more than enough body heat. Maybe someday soon they’d actually get married and spend the rest of their lives in America, the land of opportunity or something. The first two times of coming to America had been a mistake. The third one had been the best thing in his life.


End file.
